Past Imperfect
by thornbug
Summary: What would happen if Lois and Clark were tasked with protecting their young daughter who was sent back in time to them from the year 2018?
1. Vanishing Act

**Past Imperfect**

Author: EllaBlue

Rating: K+ (for now)

Warning: Mild Spoilers up to Stiletto

Pairing: Clark/Lois

Disclaimer: I do not own Clark nor Lois (though that doesn't mean I don't want to be her) nor any other Smallville character. Although I think I do own Cira.

A/N: I got this wave of inspiration while reading a random spoiler from a Superman comic. The idea is basically, what would happen if the Lois and Clark we know (as in season 8) were faced with their 5-year old daughter from the future. So, what started out as drabbles on a page has now evolved into chapter one. Enjoy...

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**Chapter One**

**Saturday, November 12 2018 - 07:22**

"Lois, this is the last time, I promise." Clark shrugged off his jacket revealing the bright red material under his shirt. He guessed that changing at super-speed while she was yelling at him would not garner her affection.

"If I had a penny for every time you 'promised' me something, I'd be a givin' Ollie a run for his money." Lois stood in front of him half dressed for work. Perry had called an urgent Saturday morning meeting to discuss budget cuts with the staff and she figured she could get some work done before that afternoon's festivities began. Her skirt was zipped up but she'd yet to put on her shirt. Her cheeks her still flushed from the shower and now from rage, no doubt. Clark wondered how she could look so outrageously sexy and dangerously murderous at the same time.

"You swore that you'd be here for this. I can't manage a room full of screaming kids on my own."

He stripped off the pants he had put on just moments ago, and was now standing in his full costume, minus the cape. "You won't be alone. Chloe's coming over to help with the arrangements remember? Besides, how hard could it be? They're just kids."

Lois narrowed her eyes. "Just kids? Dare I remind you of last year's party and the great birthday cake incident? Frosting does not wash out easily."

Clark wisely suppressed his smile. "Look, Bruce said it'll just take a couple of hours. I'll be back in time for the cake." Clark walked towards her and cupped her face. "Once she sees all those gifts, she won't even notice I'm missing," he said tenderly.

Lois shrugged his hand away, not quite ready to forgive him. "But I will."

Clark sighed, "Lo..."

"Just go, Clark." She stood up and began to fold up his work clothes which he had tossed on the bed. "You're needed elsewhere."

He reached for his cape and took a step towards the window. Lois looked at him questioningly when he hesitated. "Forget something Superman?"

"Yeah, I did." He turned suddenly and pulled her towards him, leaning down for a kiss. Despite her anger, Lois pushed up against him, feeling her resentment slowly melt away. Half of her cursed him and his red and blue hotness, the other half wanted to tell the world to wait while she ravaged her husband. When they eventually pulled apart, Lois was breathless. Clark grinned and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be, than with you, Mrs Lane-Kent, but right now, I've got to help save it."

Lois' eyes softened and she shook her head. "If you think you can use your charm to get out of this one, Smallville, you're wrong. You're gonna have to find some way to make it up to me." She winked at him and Clark's heart experienced a familiar flutter.

"Looking forward to it," he replied, before he stepped out of the window if their twelve storey apartment and flew into the clouds.

**Saturday, November 12 2018 – 14:22**

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Chloe raised her eyebrows at her cousin.

"I'm just..." Lois' eyes darted around the large garden and into the house. "Jeez, Chlo, I need to pee. That against the law?"

"It is when you're just using the bathroom to hide out in. The last time to went to 'pee'," Chloe wriggled her fingers as quotation marks, "You stayed in there for forty minutes."

Lois sighed. "Fine, you got me. I hate this." She looked around the garden at the dozen or so kids who were running, screaming and jumping around. A huge bouncy house acted as the main attraction in the middle of the grass. Some of the parents who had stayed to watch were chatting under a large canopy. Although Lois doubted that they were much help.

Suddenly a cheesy puff was hurled across the lawn and landed smack bang against Lois' forehead. "Hey, no throwing," she yelled at a little blonde boy with his fingers in a bowl. Apparently finding her reaction amusing, he threw, with surprisingly good aim, another puff which landed against her cheek. "That's it," Lois muttered, walking towards the boy. Without ceremony, Lois scooped him up, pulled the bowl away from him and, when his lip began to do the wobble which all parents have come to recognise as trouble, she thrust a lollipop into his mouth and directed him towards the parents' table.

"There, now the little monster can bug someone else."

Chloe laughed, "Wow, Lo, you maternal skills have really kicked in."

"Ha, ha, laugh it up, cuz. But don't say I didn't warn you. Soon it'll be bottles and diapers and birthday cake frosting that stays in your hair for months." Lois patted Chloe's baby bump with affection. "Once he's out there's no going back."

"I can't wait." Chloe replied with a glowing smile. "But I'm serious, Lois. You're a great mom."

"You think?" Lois looked across the garden at her daughter who was practically screaming in delight as she bounced up and down. "Sometimes I'm not so sure."

Chloe frowned. "What are you talking about? Cira adores you. She's a really lucky little girl."

"Thanks, Chlo," Lois said with a smile. "It means a lot."

As if on cue a small, the dark haired little girl bounded towards them. "Momeeeee!"

Lois bent down and scooped up her daughter. "Hey there peanut. You having a good time?"

Cira nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh. I bounced so high I was flying. Did you see, mommy?"

"I sure did," Lois said with laugh. "Hey, did you thank Aunt Chloe for your gift?"

The little girl gave Chloe a wide grin. "Thanks for the tallyscope Aunt Chloe. Now me and daddy can see all the stars and the planets and the moons. Aunt Chloe did you know the sun is also a star?"

Chloe feigned surprise. "It is? Wow, it must be pretty far away then huh?"

Cira nodded excitedly. "Yep. Daddy said its even farther away than from my house to your house."

Both women chuckled. "That is far," Chloe said.

"Look, the magician's here!!" Cira wriggled out of Lois' arms and ran towards the tall man in a rainbow coloured cloak. His long dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail which made him look like a gypsy.

Chloe frowned. "I thought Zatanna was doing the show?"

"She was," Lois replied. "I'll be right back." The magician smiled as Lois approached.

"Mrs Lane-Kent I presume?"

Lois eyed him carefully. "You presume correctly. Who the hell are you?"

He whipped out his card and presented it to her. "The name's Alakazam. Zatanna sent me."

Lois studied the card. The Amazing Alakazam. You've never seen ANYTHING like it.

She looked back at him. "So, Zatanna sent you here in her place?"

He nodded. "It seems she had some urgent business to take care of."

Lois' realised that she was probably called in for the same reason Clark was. A tugging on her jeans caused her to look down.

Cira stared up at her with impatient eyes. "Mommy, can we see the magic now?"

"Sure, honey." She looked back to Alakazam and smiled, "I guess this is where you come in."

He returned her smile and began to gather the children together.

"Everything alright?" Chloe asked as Lois returned with a glass of iced-tea in one hand and an orange juice with a little something extra thrown in it in the other.

"Fine," she replied handing Chloe the tea. "Zatanna was called in for League stuff, so she sent this guy in her place."

"Strange isn't it?" Chloe commented.

Lois took a sip from her glass, "What is?"

"Well, he doesn't have anything with him. I mean, no bag of tricks or a hat to pull a rabbit out of."

"Hmmm," Lois looked back to where Alakazam was asking for a volunteer. Cira's hand shot up.

"Lois, I think you're vibrating." Chloe motioned to her pocket. Lois pulled her phone out and answered.

"Hello? Zatanna, hi. What do you mean you're stuck in traffic? No, your replacement's doing fine."

Lois' eyes roamed back to where her daughter was standing. Alakazam had his wand pointed straight at her.

"Zatanna, tell me you sent this guy over here?" Panic bubbled up in her throat. She threw down her phone and raced over to Cira just in time to see a bright blue light erupt from the magician's wand and her daughter disappear.

**Saturday, November 12 2009 **

Lois Lane sighed as she stepped into her apartment. She'd just spent the majority of her Saturday in the basement of the Daily Planet, waiting for the possibility of a phone call from Metropolis's resident super-hero. She knew it was silly to think that he'd call her at work, especially after he had gone to so much trouble arranging their first, and in her mind epic , telephone conversation, but the thought of him calling and her not being around to answer bothered her more than she'd have liked to admit. To further complicate matters, a certain plaid wearing farm-boy had decided that he had nothing better to do on a Saturday than catch up on work. Between denying her feelings for Clark Kent and her growing feelings for the primary coloured wonder boy, Lois was exhausted.

She threw her bag down on the kitchen counter and turned on the kettle. There was nothing a good cuppa Joe couldn't fix. She was reaching for a mug when she heard it. A tiny sound, barely perceptible, coming from her bedroom. Before living in Smallville, Lois would have dismissed it as the wind or something, but years of being kidnapped, attacked and almost killed taught her to be extra vigilant. Reaching for a steak knife, Lois angled her head to see into her room. It was too dark to really make anything out. Slowly, she made her way out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. Knife in hand, Lois flipped on the light switch, ready for attack.

"What the hell?!" she muttered, staring at the tiny person curled up and sleeping in the middle of her bed.

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**A/N**: Reviews, good, constructive or just plain bad are greatly appreciated


	2. Child's Play

**Past Imperfect**

**Author: EllaBlue**

**A/N:** Wow! I was blown away by all your great reviews-I really did not expect it. So, a BIG thank you to everyone who took the time to know that they liked the story and the concept. This is most likely the last time an update will follow so soon, but I've just finished a very detailed sketch of future chapters, so I'm hoping to be updating once a week or so. Also, someone asked me about Cira's name. It's pronounced 'Keira'. I got it from the name 'Cir-El" which, in the comics is the name of the girl who claims to be Lois and Clark's daughter from the future (if you want to know how that turns out, read 'Superman: The 10-Cent Adventure #1). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chaper :)

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**Chapter Two**

**Saturday November 12 2009 – 17: 26**

For a few seconds, Lois just stared at the sleeping child, wondering how the hell she got there. A quick scan of the room revealed nothing suspicious surrounding the girl but Lois moved slowly towards the bed, half expecting something to jump out at her. Curled up like a kitten, the little girl lay in the dead centre of the bed with her thumb in her mouth and her dark brown hair in a tangled mess around her face. Without thinking about it, Lois reached out and gently brushed the curls away from her cheek, revealing a small, pixyish face, relaxed in sleep and blissfully unaware of the intrusion. Cute, Lois noted, but definitely unfamiliar. She was quite certain that she had never seen this child before. Why then, did she feel a strange tug of recognition? Perhaps she was one of the neighbours' kids? Yeah, that made sense. The little scamp had probably snuck into her apartment while she was out getting the mail or something and then found herself locked in. She stared down at the girl trying to recall ever seeing her in the halls. As far as she knew, none of the neighbours had any kids, unless one counted The Land-Lady from hell and her forty cats. Then again, Lois hadn't been living there all that long. Perhaps the kid belonged to a new family. Softly, Lois backed out of the room and made her way out of the apartment. If anyone would know the child belonged to, it would be Missy Arnold.

Like a knight riding towards a dragon, Lois crossed the hall and knocked on the door opposite her own. After a few seconds of shuffling, meowing and unintelligible mumbling the door was opened by a short, iron-haired woman in her late sixties. Missy gave Lois the once over, her face set in a stony glower.

"Louise. What are you doing here? Your water running cold again? Cause I told you last time, you can't be taking such long showers and expect the hot water to last forever. Kids nowadays think that luxury's a right. In my day a hot shower came once year...if you were lucky."

Lois bit back a snarky comment and forced a smile. "Ms Arnold. I'm just here to ask you a few questions."

Missy narrowed her eyes. "This about Mr. Twinkle? Animal services said I could keep him long as he don't go sniffing around in Larry's apartment again."

"No, this isn't about...Mr. Twinkle." Lois sighed, her patience growing thin. "I was just wondering... do you know of any kids in the building? I mean, do any of the families have any young children?"

"Kids?" Missy grunted in disgust. "There ain't no kids in my building, Louise. They're nothing but noisy trouble makers. Last time Mr. Collins had his grandson here, my Lulu-Bell came home with a scorched tail." Missy looked at Lois threateningly, "So don't you be thinking about getting in the family way either. I've seen that boy you bring round here."

It took Lois a second to realise who she meant. "You mean Smallville?" she snorted. "That'll be the day."

Missy looked unimpressed. "That's what they all say. Now, are you done, Louise? My shows are coming on soon."

"So you're sure," Lois glanced back at her door. "You're sure there aren't any little girls running around here?"

"Not on my watch," Missy replied then promptly shut the door in Lois' face.

"Well aren't you just a ball of sunshine," Lois muttered, walking back to her apartment.

As soon as she entered, she realised she was still faced with the problem of the sleeping child on her bed. She tiptoed into her bedroom to find the little girl now sprawled across her mattress, as if she didn't have a care in the world. Lois switched on the lamp next to the bed, hoping to get a better look at the girl. She was dressed in a pretty blue dress, the kind her mom used to make her and Lucy wear when they were little. Something about that memory and the way the little girl looked in the dress jarred Lois. It was if she had been struck by a wave of nostalgia yet she had no clue what she was supposed to be nostalgic about. Suddenly the child stirred and Lois realised, to her horror, that she had no idea what she was supposed to do when the kid woke up. Question her? Demand answers? Call child services? She had no clue how to deal with a little kid.

As softly as she came into the room, Lois backed out, praying to God that the kid would remain asleep long enough for her to call in reinforcement.

Once in the kitchen, and a safe distance away from little Bo-Peep, Lois dug into her bag and retrieved her phone. Dialling Chloe's number, she let out a breath and waited for her cousin's answer. If anyone would know what to do with a kid it would be Chlo. She was good with the touchy feely crap. If only she would answer her...

"Hi, this is Chloe. I'm not able to take your call right now, but if you leave a message, I'll be sure to get back to you."

Lois gritted her teeth at the sound of the beep.

"Chloe, it's me. I really need you to call me when you get this. There's a matter that I could really use your help with."

She hit the end call button and flopped down on the couch. She considered turning on the TV but then realised that the noise might wake her uninvited occupant and that was the last thing she wanted. So, Lois found herself sitting on her sofa, staring at the door to her bedroom, wondering what the hell she was going to do when sleeping beauty opened her eyes.

As Lois' eyes wondered around the apartment, her gaze fell on a familiar blue jacket left behind from the last time a certain hay-stacking reporter had dropped her off. A thought popped into her head but she immediately dismissed it. So what if he was probably great with kids? So what if Chloe didn't call back in time? So what if, once, when very drunk, she imagined having sweet, plaid wearing babies with him? No. Lois berated herself for even thinking it. No way was she calling Clark Kent.

"Hey, Smallville. I need your help." Lois cradled the receiver between her shoulder and her cheek as she stirred sugar into her coffee. Clark's chuckle on the other end of the line was audible.

"Now where have I heard that before?"

"Don't get cute, Farmer Joe. This is serious. I need you to pull yourself away from your very exciting chores and get your ass down here."

"Did the drug ring story break? Because I checked the police line before I left the Planet and nobody's heard anything so far."

"This isn't about work, Clark. I need you to help me with...a problem."

She practically felt Clark's eyes narrowing. "What sort of problem?"

"God, Smallville, third degree much?"

"Lois," Clark's voice took on a suspicious tone, "What's going on? You've got your 'I'm about to get myself into trouble' voice. This isn't anything illegal is it?"

"Well, you know what they say," Lois took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the banter. "Friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies."

"Yeah, I know how the saying goes. What's really going on, Lois?" Clark asked. In the background, Lois heard the distinct moo of a cow. Her mouth tugged into a smile as she imagining Clark standing in the barn, staring out of his little window at the world.

"Okay, here's the thing," she complied. "When I got to my apartment this evening, there was a kid in my bed."

"What do you mean a kid? Like a baby goat?" God, he could be really dense sometimes.

"God, you can be really dense sometimes." She glanced into her bedroom. "A child, Clark. A tiny human child was sleeping...correction, is sleeping in the middle of my bed."

She swore she could hear Clark beginning to pace. "And you've never seen this child before?"

"She's a complete stranger to me," she replied.

"Well have you checked if she has any identification on her?"

"Well I can't exactly ask for her driver's license, now can I, genius?" Clark sighed on the other end and Lois imagined him rolling his eyes. "Besides," she continued. "I didn't want to wake her up."

"So let me get this straight. You came home to find a child who you've never seen before sleeping in your bed and you decided to call me?"

"Yeah, well I called Chloe first but she wasn't answering."

"Okay," Clark replied. "I'll see you in a few minutes; we can sort this out and hopefully get this child back to where she belongs."

"A few minutes," Lois frowned. "I thought you were at the farm?" There was a pause before Clark answered.

"Uh, yeah, I just meant, if traffic isn't too bad, I'll see you in a few minutes, like the amount of minutes which make up an hour."

"Whatever." Lois shook her head, well accustomed to Clarks' bumbling rambles. "Just get here, Smallville. I don't want to be alone when it wakes up."

Lois hung up the phone and turned back to the bedroom then nearly fell over in fright when she saw the pair of blue-green eyes curiously watching her from the doorway.

The little girl smiled a sleepy, gap-toothed smile and said, "Where did the party go to, mommy?"

"Mommy?!" Lois took a giant step backwards and held up her hands, as if warding off some terrible beast. "Sorry, honey, but you're barking up the wrong family tree. I'm not your mommy."

The little girl giggled, thinking this was some new game. "You are too my mommy."

"No, I'm not." Lois frowned. "How did you get here?"

The girl looked at Lois with big confused eyes and shrugged her little shoulder. "I don't know," she said softly.

Oh God, please don't let her cry, Lois thought desperately, looking into those swirling green-blue eyes which seemed vaguely familiar. "Okay," she took a tentative step towards the girl. "How about we start with the easy stuff?" She took another step closer. "What's your name?"

The girl continued to stare at her oddly. "Cira."

Lois nodded, this was going well. "Okay, Cira. Now I want you to really think hard about something. Can you do that?"  
Lois smiled when Cira nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, good. Now, do remember how you got here? How you got to this room?"

Cira scrunched up her face as she concentrated and Lois absently thought that it was just the cutest thing she'd ever seen. "I think the magic man put a spell on me."

"What magic man?"

"The one at the party."

Lois stared at her in confusion. "What party?"

But Cira only yawned, obviously bored with the interrogation. "Can I have chocolate milk now?" she asked, closing the gap between them.

Lois looked down at her. Once again, that subtle feeling of familiarity tugged at Lois, but for the life her, she could not place it.

"I um, I don't have any," she said, wondering if she could somehow convince the kid to go back to sleep until Clark arrived.

Cira's bottom lip jutted out in a classic expression of childish displeasure. "But you said I could have chocolate milk after the party."

"Look," Lois crouched down so that they were eye level. "You must have me confused with someone else. I'm not you mommy and I never said anything about any chocolate milk."

Lois bit her lip in distress as Cira's eyes began to water. "Okay, Thumbelina, here's the deal," she said in what she hoped was a comforting voice. "I'll get you chocolate milk and even a cookie or two but then you have to help me find your mom, so that we can get you back to where you belong. You okay with that?"

Cira pursed her little lips as she processed this then nodded. "Okay, mommy."

Lois groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Okay, then."

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	3. Standing on the Edge

**A/N: **Once again, a HUGE thanks for all the fantabulous reviews :D. They're really reallyencouraging. Also, I think I should probably warn you in advance that the sections set the future are going to be pretty Justice League heavy. So I'm going to be drawing on a lot of DC Universe references and characters but I'll make them quite explicit, so even if you're not familiar with DC mythology, you'll get them. In case anyone's wondering, my non-Smallville characters such as Bruce and Diana (and even Dinah aka Black Canary, who is in Smallville, but I much prefer her _Justice League Unlimited_ incarnation) are primarily based on the JLA comics and the series. Oh, and this version of J'onn J'onzz, is not Detective John Jones in Smallville, he's the green dude in the blue cape who never uses contractions (don't ask me how they both exist simultaneously, they just do, okay:) Phew...enjoy

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**Chapter Three: Standing on the Edge**

**Saturday November 12 2018– 18: 56**

"Tell me where she is!"

Clark was vaguely aware of the strong hand on his shoulder, gently, but forcefully urging him back. "Clark, come on. He can't breathe. You don't want to do this."

He shoved the hand away. He _did_ want to do this. And as his grip around the man's neck slowly tightened, Clark found himself, for the first time in his life, on the edge of an abyss so dark, so violent, that there was no coming back from it.

"I asked you," he said through gritted teeth, "To tell me where my daughter is."

Alakazam smiled widely, his teeth stained with blood. "Your witch wasn't able to get anything out of me? What makes you think you can?"

"Because I'm willing to make certain sacrifices," Clark replied, momentarily closing his eyes to prevent himself from using heat vision.

"That's right Superman," the beaten man coughed, blood spewing from his lips. "Kill me to prove why I should spare your daughter."

Clark's grip tightened further. "Why do you want her?"

Alakazam let out a wheezing chuckle, his voice growing hoarse as the strain to his throat increased. "You think this is about her? This is about you, you fool. This is about righting past wrongs. In time I will give your instructions."

"If you hurt her, I swear to God..." Clark gripped his arm until a loud crack emitted though the room.

"Okay, that's it," Oliver said, using all his strength to pull Clark back roughly.

Clark grudgingly released his grip, causing the now unconscious body to slump against the wall with the thud of a dead weight. He stared at the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists, the reality of how close he had come to losing control was slowly sinking in.

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" Oliver asked, turning to Clark. "You could have killed him."

"I had to get him to tell me." Clark's voice was carefully modulated as he struggled to control his anger.

Oliver on the other hand, had no problem verbalising his feelings. "By practically crushing his windpipe?" He pointed at the bruised and bloody body on the ground. "This is not how we do things! It's not how _you_ do things."

"He knows where Cira is!" Clark yelled, his voice echoing in the dark, empty conference room. "He did this to her!"

Oliver ran his hand over his face. God this was hard. "I know, Clark. I know." His voice was softer now, the anger replaced by compassion. "But killing him isn't going to get her back."

Clark finally turned to Oliver, his eyes wet with tears. "Then what will, Oliver?"

Oliver sighed. "I can only imagine how hard this is," he put his hand on Clark's shoulder.

Clark shook his head. "I don't think you can." He looked at his friend, still clad in his green leather. "Imagine he took away the one thing in your life that you would sacrifice the world for." He stared at Alakazam's unconscious form and shook his head sadly. "I don't feel like Superman, right now. I don't feel like a hero." He looked at Oliver imploringly. "I feel like a father who's lost his daughter."

Oliver's grip tightened. "We'll get her back, Clark. I swear it."

Clark shut his eyes and exhaled, trying to pull himself together. "Any word from J'onn?"

"He was called away a week ago. Something about a civil war on Mars."

"Are his telecommunications online?"

Oliver shook his head. "Bruce and Diana left to get him. It shouldn't take them more than twenty minutes in the sonic jet to reach Ma'aleca 'andra."

Clark nodded. "Good."

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked as Clark bent down to pick Alakazam up off the floor.

"Taking him to the medical station. He'll need to be conscious for J'onn's psychic interrogation."

"Clark, you don't have to do that." Oliver walked over to him. "I can take care of it. You should be with Lois."

Clark's face went blank. "I'm needed here."

Oliver stared at him incredulously. "What are you talking about? Lois needs you. Probably more than anyone else right now. Have you even seen her since this afternoon?"

"She's resting. This has been hard for her." He walked over to the large windows, and looked down. The view of the earth from this vantage point was particularly beautiful. There were times when the distance between the Watchtower and the earth seemed so far away that he felt almost homesick. Now, it seemed to close, too near, too real. Somewhere, deep down, there was part of Clark that wanted to fly off into some unknown galaxy, away from the earth and his friends...and Lois. Away from the pain. The coward in him wanted to run. Some hero he was. He could save the world from apocalypses and alien invasions, but he couldn't save his daughter from danger or Lois from pain.

"This is my fault, you heard him. I'm the reason Cira's gone. I don't deserve to go back."

"Maybe that's true," Oliver said, never one for a pity party. "But for some unfathomable reason, Lois loves you. And right now, Clark, she needs you. She needs her husband. So you can sit here and sulk or you can go be with your wife until we find a way to get Cira back."

Clark swirled around, his face heavy with emotion. "How am I supposed to face her Oliver? Knowing that this was my fault, that I could have prevented this from ever happening?!" Clark's voice broke as grief ravaged him. "I should have been there. She wanted me to stay. I could have stopped him."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah and how would you have done that, Clark? Zatanna said this guy's messing with some heavy hocus and last time I checked, magic affected you just like the rest of us."

"I hate this," Clark said finally. "I hate feeling so fucking helpless." It was the first time in all their years of friendship that he'd heard Clark curse. They'd been through really bad situations, but Clark had always somehow held on to his wholesome, moralistic image. Oliver worried that he was slowly slipping. He knew what it was like to be driven by grief and guilt. He knew the darkness it bred. Oliver knew that there was only one person who could pull Clark back from the edge.

"No-one blames you, man" He leaned back against the wall and appraised his friend. "Not me, not Cira and not Lois."

Clark sighed. Some part of him needed to hear that.

Oliver continued. "Go home, Clark. I'll call you when J'onn arrives."

Clark took one last look at Oliver then walked out of the conference room, leaving The Watchtower to go home to his wife.

**Saturday November 12 2009 – 19:02**

"Lois?" Clark rapped lightly on the door before entering. He idly reminded himself to chastise Lois later for always leaving her door unlocked. No wonder strange children wondered in. He had spent the last hour biding his time at the farm until a believable amount of time had past for him to superspeed over to the Metropolis. After Lois' phone call, Clark had found it nearly impossible to continue with his chores, his mind kept wondering back to their afternoon at the Planet. He knew, though she'd never admit to it, that Lois had spent the day there in the hope of a phone call from the Red-Blue Blur. His plan had been to do a quick follow up on an article before spending a quiet day on the farm with Shelby. With all the action the Red-Blue Blur had been getting, Clark had let his farm chores build up. But when he saw Lois sitting there, he couldn't seem to drag himself away. One hour turned into two, two turned into three and soon they were ordering pizza and working on Monday's articles.

It was strange, Clark mused. Despite the fact that she didn't know his secret, that he was constantly hiding from her, she was the only person in his life whom he felt completely and utterly himself with. There were no pretences with Lois. He could be guarded and detached or silly and bumbling and she would accept it with a snarky comment and a smile. A smile that was beginning to affect him more and more.

He was just through the threshold when he was yanked into the kitchen by a frazzled looking Lois.

""What the-"

She clamped her hand over his mouth. "Shhh!" Once she was sure he'd gotten the message, she removed her hand from a bemused Clark. "No need to alert her to our presence. I'm hoping that she'll fall asleep in front of the TV."

Clark looked over Lois' shoulder towards the television, where a small head was fixated on the screen. "You let her watch Monster Trucks Uncensored?" his whispered incredulously.

Lois shrugged. "It was either that or the purple dinosaur and let me tell you, he's just plain scary. Who'd have thought? The kid has good taste. Now listen, Smallville, there's something you should know."

"What is it?"

She looked back at Cira, still engrossed as the audience screamed in pleasure, and moved a little closer to Clark, so as not to let her hear. "I think her brain's fried."

"What do you mean?" Clark frowned. He glanced at the girl again. She looked fine to him, granted, he could only see the back of her head from this angle, but still.

Lois sighed, "Okay, here's the thing," she started. He looked at her expectantly.

He narrowed her eyes as if deciding whether or not to tell him. "She keeps calling me...mommy."

Clark burst out in chuckles. "Mommy?!"

Lois smacked his chest. "Shut it, Smallville. It's not funny."

"No it is. It's really funny," he responded, still grinning. "Never would have pegged you for the mommy type, Lois."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, laugh it up, but I think there's something weird going on."

Clark struggled to compose his face. "Lois, she's probably scared and confused and maybe you remind her a bit of her mom. It's not that unimaginable. Have you tried asking her where she's from?"

Lois leaned back against the counter top. "Well, that's where it gets weird. I asked her how she got here and she said the 'magic man' put a spell on her. At first I figured it was normal kid-babble, but then she said it again. She said she was at a party and then the magic man sent her away, so I'm thinking, what if she was kidnapped buy some weirdo then escaped and landed up here for some reason."

Clark nodded. "You think we should call the police? "

"Clark, there's more," she looked back at Cira. "She knows stuff."

He followed her gaze to the couch. "What do mean she knows stuff?"

"It started when I was making her cocoa."

Clark's lips twitched. "Lois," he cooed, "you made her cocoa?"

"Well, she wanted chocolate milk and I didn't have any and I couldn't leave her alone to get any, so I remembered that I had cocoa and so not the point, Smallville." She continued, "As I was saying, I was making cocoa and she asked for marshmallows. I told I didn't have any, but then she told me to look in the cupboard above the microwave. Lo and behold, marshmallows." She lowered her voice a notch. "Clark, I didn't even know they were there until I remembered Chloe bought a packet for our movie-night last week. How would she know that?"

"You said you found her here when you got home, right? So she could have snooped around before you got back and seen them."

Lois pointed up, "Does your theory explain how she got all the way up there?"

He looked up at the cupboard and then back at Lois. "Lois, what are you suggesting?"

"I don't know, but earlier, just before you arrived, she called me out of the bathroom because there was a Whitesnake music video playing. Now, how the hell would she know that I like Whitesnake? It's like she's reading my mind or something."

Clark frowned. "You think she's telepathic."

"Well," Lois shrugged, "we're not that far from weird and unexplained central."

Clark moved past Lois to get a better look at the girl. If she was telepathic, she might be dangerous for him to be around. If she could read his thoughts, she could unwittingly give his secret away. He had to find out where she was from and get her back as soon as possible. At that point, he guessed the police to be there best option, though he wasn't too keen on handing her over to the cops, especially if she had a meteor ability. Clark knew all too well that the age limit at Belle Reve was slowly getting lower and lower.

As if sensing his gaze, Cira turned around and stared back him. Clark was struck by an uncanny sense of protectiveness as her face pulled into a wide grin. Cira hopped off the couch and ran straight towards him.

"Daddy!" she yelled throwing her arms open.

Lois and Clark turned to each other in horror. "DADDY?!!"

**Saturday November 12 2018– 19: 15**

He found her in the kitchen. She was standing on a stool, peering into one of the top cupboards, muttering to herself. His super hearing picked up the words, "Stupid. Where are you? Disappeared when I need it."

Clark stepped up behind her "Lo?"

She jumped in fright and tumbled from the chair, right into Clark's arms. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her warm body, searching for a comfort only she could afford him.

He was confused when she pushed away from him and took a step back.

"Have you heard anything?" Her voice was casual as if asking about the score on a football game.

"No," Clark shook his head. "He deflected Zatanna's truth spell, but J'onn should be arriving soon."

"Kay," Lois nodded then claimed back onto the stool and stuck her head into the cupboard.

He watched her, perplexed by her composure. The Lois Lane-Kent he knew was many things, but dispassionate was not one of them. He'd expected her to be raging or crying or even planning a mission strategy, definitely not poking her head into cupboards.

"What are you doing? He asked when she shuffled through the dishwasher.

"Where is it?" she muttered, throwing cutlery onto the floor.

"Lois," he moved over to her, "What are you looking for?"

She stood up and sighed. "I can't find the damn cup."

"What cup?" he asked, following her into the living room. She began pulling cushions off the sofa, tossing them behind her as she searched.

"Cira's sippy-cup," Lois replied. "The blue one with the red stars. You know, the one we bought in Disney Land." She got onto her knees to look under the couch. "I'm sure I saw it this morning," she went on, her voice muffled as she stuck her arm under the couch, feeling for the cup.

Clark watched her with a mixture of confusion and worry. Wondering if shock had propelled her into some sort of denial. He needed to get through to her; he needed her to be with him.

"Lois," he didn't exactly know how to do this. What was he supposed to say? "Lo," he softened his voice. "Cira's gone."

She straightened and looked at him as if he was crazy. "I know that, Clark. But she's not dead. Stop acting like we're never gonna see again."

He bristled. "I never said that. I just think you should..." Cry? Yell? Show some kind of emotion? He had no idea what he wanted from her only that this calm faced was both unnerving and heart-breaking.

"When she gets back she's gonna want her cup." She explained as she walked over to the next sofa and began scattering cushions all over the place. "Damn it!" she yelled. "Where the hell is it? She looked at him, her eyes reckless. "Maybe we can get another one. You could fly to Florida in a jiffy. I remember, we got it somewhere between the Mickey Mouse shop and the other one." Her fingers dug into the cushion she was holding on to. "What was the name of the other shop?" She swore loudly. "Why can't I remember it?"

"Lois, stop!" Clark walked up to her and tried to pry a sofa cushion from her hands. "Just stop."

She tried to push him away, "No, Clark, just..." But he grabbed both her hands and held them to his chest. "You have to stop now," he said softly.

Lois looked up at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "I promised her chocolate milk after the party. She likes that cup."

Clark wiped a tear off her cheek. "I know," he whispered.

"What if she's scared or hungry?" Tears streamed down her face. "She wasn't wearing her jacket. What if she's somewhere and she's cold?" Clark pulled her in and hugged her close.

"Shhh," he soothed, rubbing her back and fighting his own tears. "We'll find her. Everything's gonna be alright." he kissed her temple and held her as she cried. "I promise."

"She's our baby, Clark." Lois laid her hands flat against his chest, feeling the outline of the large 'S' beneath her palms.

After a while, her sobs subsided and she pulled away to look up at him. "I guess that was a long time coming," she sniffed and attempted a smile.

"Tell me about it," he replied, tucking stray hairs behind her ear.

Lois wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand and cleared her throat. "So what's the plan, Superman?"

"Well," he glanced around the room. "First we put the pillows back, then the cutlery, and then we'll see what we can do about the cup. Cira's going to want it when she gets back."

She gave him a genuine smile. "I love you, you know that?"

Clark pressed his lips to her forehead and closed his eyes, believing for the first time, that everything was going to be alright.

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	4. Revelations

**A/N: **First, a thank you for all the encouraging reviews! They're like milk and cookies at Christmas, only better. And while I don't necessarily respond to each individually, if you have a specific question or crit, I will try my best to reply.

Secondly, I realise that my chapters may be a bit short (about 3200 words), so I'm willing to make them longer by combining chapters. This will however, mean that updates will be less frequent (maybe fortnightly rather than 1-2 a week). It's completely up to you guys though. Tell me what you'd like.

Okay, here's the next one, hope this doesn't disappoint :)  
P.S. see if you can find my lame attempt at an anagram in this chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Four: Revelations**

**Saturday November 12 2009 – 19:20**

Lois and Clark turned to each other in horror. "DADDY?!!"

Cira ran towards Clark with her arms flung open.

Acting on pure instinct, her bent down and picked her up then looked rather distressed once she was actually on his hip.

"Oh, hell no," Lois muttered, staring at Clark, who looked back helplessly as Cira wrapped her arms around his neck. Lois surveyed this strange tableau and realised, that despite him looking completely inexperienced and awkward; something about this scene seemed so natural.

He patted her head awkwardly, "Uh, hey there-"

"Cira," Lois supplied.

Cira leaned back and smiled at Clark, her eyes shining with obvious adoration. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. There was something eerily familiar about her face and the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled. She was obviously under the very misguided impression that he and Lois were her parents, an impression that filled him with the oddest mixture of terror and pleasure. He began to wonder if she had indeed been kidnapped and about the extent of her trauma. Perhaps, if he played along, he'd be able to discover who she was.

Cira leaned in. "Can I tell you a secret, daddy?"

"Um, sure," he replied, clumsily adjusting her on his hip.

She whispered something in his ear. Clark looked towards Lois then back at Cira.

"I think she's just tired," he whispered to the little girl.

"What is it?" Lois asked, slightly envious of the easy affection Cira displayed towards Clark when Lois was the one who made cocoa and let her watch TV.

Clark's brow furrowed in mock-seriousness. "I can't tell you, it's a secret."

"Daddy, did you bring my present? Mommy said I gotta wait for you to come home 'fore I can see it."

"What present?" he asked Lois.

"I have no idea," she replied. "This is what I'm talking about. She's confusing me with someone else. Like I said," she motioned to her head, "brain-fried."

"Oookay," Clark put Cira down and crouched next to her. "Why don't you go watch some more TV while Loi- um mommy and I talk, hmm?"

"Okay." Cira said, running back to Monster Trucks Uncensored.

"What's the matter with you?" Lois asked, pulling Clark aside by lapels of his red jacket. "I ask you to come over here to help me and you decide to go all Mike Brady on me? I mean, come on, Smallville, what she's saying is crazy."

Clark exhaled in frustration. "I didn't know what to say, Lois. She's obviously experienced some sort of shock. I couldn't just brush her away. Besides, you telling her that she's brain-fried doesn't exactly help us out, does it?"

Lois raised her eyebrows. "Got any better ideas?"

"Actually, I do." He couldn't believe he was about to suggest this. "I think we should play along, you know, just until she trusts us."

Her eyes went wide. "Nah-uh, no way. I was never any good at playing house. Besides, there's no way we could pull it off. The idea of you and I as parents is about as crazy and me procreating with the Red-Blue Blur."

Clark cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm not saying we need to go out and buy her a pony, but maybe if she thought she could trust us, she'd open up. Besides," he thought about the feeling of Cira's little arms around his neck. "It's kind of sweet."

Lois cocked an eyebrow "You think this is sweet?"

"No," he shot her a defensive glare.

She bit back a grin. "Whatever you say, Pops."

"Lois, this is serious. We have to find out where she came from."

She sighed, "Fine, I'll play along for the kid's sake. But no funny business, Kent."

Clark rolled his eyes. "The thought never even occurred to me. Although now that you mention it, Lois, I always took you for a method actor. I saw an apron in the kitchen. You could start dinner." He shot her cutsey grin that made her toes curl.

Mentally chastising herself, Lois pulled a face at him, "Sorry, Smallville, but I am not going to star in your little 'House on the Prairie' fantasies. But if you want, I'm sure there's a nice Suzie Soccermom ad in the lonely seeking lonelier column. You should check it out." There, now he could see how much she didn't care about his hopefully non-existent love life. She was proud of herself. She managed to restore the power balance.

"I think I'm good right here," he said softly. Aaand... the scales tipped. In some ways, Clark Kent was the most honest, most boringly straightforward person she'd ever met. Yet other times, his ambiguity confounded her to no end. What kind of guy stands you up then takes a bullet for you? What kind of guy blushes while you speculate about the police chief and his 'after hours activities', then turns around and makes comments like, "I think I'm good right here"? Lois wasn't sure if she wanted to smack him or kiss him. It was probably both.

"Then make yourself useful, Smallville." She gave him a light shove in the direction of the TV. "Ask the kid some questions. Get the scoop."

Clark frowned. "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because..." watching you with her gives me all kinds of squishy butterfly feelings.

He looked at her expectantly.

She exhaled a frustrated breath. "Because you're good with this kind of thing. And if I hear her call me 'mommy' one more time, my weirdometer might just crack."

He turned around and looked at Cira who was scowling at a canned soup commercial. "Although you know, Lois, she does kind of look like you," he commented, trying to rile her up a little. "I mean, that expression is so...what?" he asked when Lois' face went pale.

"Oh my god."

"Lois, what is it?" he called to her as she dashed into her bedroom.

"Just give me a minute, Smallville," she sounded flustered.

"Daddy?" Cira called from the couch.

Clark walked over to her. Lois was right, this was this weird. He never thought he'd hear anyone call him 'daddy'. Sure he'd given some thought to having kids, someday far far in the future. But that was when he imagined them looking like miniature Lana Langs. If he were completely honest with himself, his whole take on domestic bliss had kind of dissolved after Lana left. But now, having this little girl, call him 'daddy', he wondered if maybe the fates had something besides the 'lone ranger' destiny in store for him after all.

"Is there something you wanted, Cira?"

"Can I watch a movie?" she asked in a voice that Clark doubted anyone had ever said 'no' to.

"I guess so. What do you want to watch?" he asked, seriously sceptical that anything from Lois' DVD collection would be appropriate.

"Beauty and the Beast'," she said with dreamy eyes.

He smiled down at her. "I don't think Lois has that one."

"It's behind the yellow box." Cira pointed.

Clark turned to the self and shifted the 'Kill Bill' box set to reveal an entire Disney collection. Sure enough, 'Beauty and the Beast' was right on top. He jerked around and stared at Cira.

"How did you know it was there?" he asked, his voice slightly louder than he'd intended.

Cira looked scared. "Mommy said, it's okay if I use my special gifts in the house," she said in a small voice.

Clark felt a cold shiver run through him. He sat down next to her and tried to smile reassuringly. "Cira," he said, softly, "What else did your mommy say about your uh, special gifts?"

She stared at him, unsure. "It's okay," Clark urged, gently.

"Mommy said," Cira started, "Mommy said that I'm specialer than all the other kids cause of my a-abilities...and that I gotta keep 'em a secret so I d-don't hurt anybody's feelings and she said, um..." she scrunched up her face as she tried to remember, "she said I'm gonna kick ass one day just like you."

If Clark hadn't been so freaked out, he would have smiled at the 'Lois-ism'. He glanced at the bedroom to make sure Lois was still in there. "What can you do, Cira?"

She watched him cautiously. "You said I'm not s'posed to tell."

"You can tell me," he said, a sense of wonder slowly creeping up on him. "It's okay."

She furrowed her little brow as if trying to come to a decision. Eventually, she scooted a little closer to him and said in a whisper, "I can see through stuffs and I sometimes it gets real loud in my head and I can hear you and mommy talking inside even though I'm s'posed to be sleeping, and one time when I got real mad, my eyes got all hot and I made a hole in the curtain." She looked down, ashamed. "I told Mommy it was Krypto, but I think she knowed it was me. I'm sorry."

Overwhelmed, Clark just stared at her, studying the shape of her eyes, the little button of a nose, the greenish blue of her eyes, the little dimple in her chin, the black-brown curl of hair which fell across her forehead. All at once, he realised why he'd immediately felt a sense of familiarity and protectiveness towards her. One half of him was screaming that this was crazy, but the other part felt that it was real.

"Smallville!" Lois' voice wrenched him out of his daze.

"I'll be back in a second," he told Cira, who still looked rather shaken. What the hell was he going to say to Lois?

"Lois, what is it?"

"Take a look at this," she thrust a faded photograph out at him. Her hand was trembling as he took it from her. In the picture, stood a blonde woman, smiling down at two little girls in blue pinafores. The older of the two girls stared straight at the camera, showing off a cheeky smile. She looked, save for the hazel eyes, and lighter hair, like a replica Cira.

"That was taken when I was six," Lois explained. "That's my mom and Luce in the picture with me." Clark looked from the picture to Lois and back again. As his suspicions were confirmed, Clark suddenly felt as if he were on the top of a really tall building looking down. He was washed with wonder and disbelieve. He had no idea how any of this was possible, but there she was, sitting on the couch, a testament of what he and Lois would one day accomplish.

"Clark-" once again, her voice, shaky and confused, broke though his thoughts. He looked up at her and for the first time, realised how shaken she was.

"Lois, we should think about this." He took a step towards her and she took an unconscious step back, as if to distance herself not only from him, but from the possibility of the truth.

"This is insane." Lois shook her head wildly, "And I don't mean 'wall of weird' insane, I'm talking crazy twilight zone meets really bad joke, insane. To find out like this is just..." she trailed off, "How is even possible? And seriously, of all the eligible non-flannel wearing men out there...you!? " she asked, narrowing her eyes at him and showing no sign that her rant was about to end, "I mean, sure I've thought about it."

Clark's eyebrows shot up but Lois ignored him. "There's the whole hearty farm-boy thing and also the whole mystery brooding thing, which by the way, is way more attractive that you get credit for and I'm really wishing I did not just say that, except I can't seem to calm down because this is just so...huge." She shot him an almost hopeless 'please stop me now' look.

"Lois-" he tried to interject but she cut him off.

"And the thing is, I knew, there was something about her. When I first saw her, I knew she seemed familiar. It just never occurred that she reminded me of, well, me. And now, this picture..." She sobered suddenly and took a deep breath.

"Clark," she said softly, her voice was thick with emotion, "She's got your eyes."

"Lois..." Clark opened his mouth to speak but then realised he had know idea what to say.

**Saturday November 12 2018 – 20:19**

Clark looked up as the doors of the Silent Space, slowly opened. J'onn J'onzz: Martian Manhunter and resident telepath stepped out of the room, his face impassive as always.

"Were you successful?" Bruce Wayne was leaning against the opposite wall, his face nearly as impassive as the Martian's.

"Partly," J'onn replied. "I was able to absorb most of his memories and thus learn his identity. I could not, however fully read his motives or why he targeted the child. He has requested to speak to you."

Clark's hands clenched. "Just tell me what he is and how I can stop him."

J'onn turned to him. "What he is, Superman, is meta human. His name is Tim Vartel. He is 45 years of age. To stop him would mean killing his human body. It would be fairy easy, though I doubt it would secure your daughter's safe return."

"Hold on," Bruce pushed himself off the wall and fixed his piercing grey eyes on the Martian. "If he's just a Meta how did he manage to send Cira into oblivion?"

"It seems he has an ability to focus telekinetic energies and apply them to the space-time continuum, thereby achieving a sort of teleportation."

"He can send things though time," Bruce stated.

"And people," J'onn agreed.

"So he sent Cira somewhere in time?" Clark asked

J'onn nodded once. "It would appear so."

"Where?" Both Bruce and Clark asked together.

"I could not penetrate that area of his mind. Though I was able to deduce that the child, though no longer in this time, is still whole and existing." He looked at Clark. "She is still alive."

It was as if a planet-sized weight had been removed from Clark's chest. "Is she alright? Is she safe?"

"The psychic imprint I gathered from where she disappeared indicates that no harm befell her when she was teleported. I do not know exactly where she is now, so I have no indication of her current state beyond knowing that she lives. This is something you must ask Tim Vartel."

"Why did her take her?" Bruce asked. The inflection in his voice suggested mere curiosity.

J'onn gave a tiny sigh, almost imperceptible. "There is emotion around this act, a strong emotion. He is using it to cloud his mind. I do not know what motivates him."

"I want to talk to him," Clark said with finality.

Bruce's face changed subtly. "You really think you're in the best frame of mind, Kent?"

"I think I'm in the best frame of mind to get him to talk to me," Clark replied.

"I'll do it," Bruce said in a voice that usually discouraged any argument, but Clark shook his head.

"Bruce, this is something I have to do, and if have I fight you both to get in there, I will."

"There will be no need for violence," J'onn said slowly. "Tim Vartel is still in liquid suspension. It was the easiest way for me to interrogate him. Diana has asked me to keep him in this state until more can be learned about his motives. You cannot hurt him, Superman."

Disappointment and relief washed over Clark's face.

"I am sorry I could not do more to explore his intentions." For the first time, since exiting the room, J'onn's voice displayed some sort of apologetic tone.

"You did a lot, J'onn," Clark responded. "I'm sorry we pulled you away from Ma'aleca'andra."

"This is where I belong," J'onn said equably. "If you require my assistance again, I will gladly help." He nodded once to Bruce and Clark then took off towards the canteen.

"He's looking good; I think he got a tan on Mars." Bruce voiced this in complete monotone.

Clark shot him a deadpan look. "Your comic timing leaves something to be desired."

"Clark," Bruce took a step towards him. "Be smart in there.

Clark nodded, realising this was Bruce's way of giving him the go-ahead.

He walked towards the large steel doors, "Call Chloe, tell her everything and ask her to tell Lois that Cira's ok."

Bruce gave Clark an understanding nod.

As Clark entered the Silent Space, he squinted as his eyes adjusted to the deep blue fluorescent lighting emitted from the large tank in the middle of the room. The name of room had started as joke when Bart had once asked J'onn went on in it. J'onn had replied that it was a 'silent space', something Bart would never understand. Since then, the name stuck. Essentially, the room was conceived as a place for J'onn and occasionally Bruce, to interrogate their menagerie of foes. What it evolved into was a space filled with pseudo-scientific inventions which not only helped to interrogate enemies, but also to keep them imprisoned.

The tank in question was filled with a bright blue gas, which locked its inhabitant in place. Tim Vartel was stretched out on his back, his eyes closed; his face still bruised from their previous encounter was unnervingly serene.

Clark pulled up a chair and studied Vartel. "I know you're awake."

Slowly, Vartel's eyes opened. "Come to molest my mind some more?" His voice was still hoarse.

"You said you wanted to see me," Clark didn't know how much idle conversation he could take before breaking the tank and ripping Vartel into pieces.

"I did." Vartel closed his eyes. "I don't suppose you could get some music in here for me? It's awfully quiet. Maybe some Brahms? Or Schubert?"

Clark ground his jaw. "Where's Cira?"

"Straight to point. I like that about you, Clark."

He frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, come on, those glasses? That reporter persona? It's all a bit obvious don't you think?" Vartel yawned. "Really, an imbecile could see through it."

"Where's my daughter?" he asked again, unwilling to participate in this game.

"She's safe," Vartel finally said, "For now."

"Why did you take her?"

"Well, so that we could have this little chat. I called your secretary, but apparently you were booked until the next apocalypse. I had to take things into my own hands."

"You went to all this trouble so that we could talk? You planned on getting caught."

"But of course," Vartel smiled.

Clark sat up straight, "So, here I am. Tell where Cira is and you may just escape a very miserable fate."

Vartel chuckled, "You think anything you do to me could be worse than the pain you inflicted all those years ago?"

Clark racked his brain, trying to remember if he had every come across Vartel before, but he drew a definite blank. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, then," Clark felt sick as Vartel's expression changed from cool to menacing in a heartbeat, "You better listen up closely, Superman or I'm going to kill your child. Just like you killed mine."

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	5. Interchange

**A/N:** Okay, first things first: THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS!! Yes, I am going do this at the beginning of every chapter, because honestly, there's no other way to express just how much your words mean to me. At the end of this fic, I swear I will name each and every reviewer individually, but for now, generic and heartfelt _thanks_.

Secondly, this chapter introduces some heavy time-travel stuff. I'm a huge fan of LOST and astro-physics in general and I unashamedly ripped off a bunch of concepts, so kudos to the LOST writers (and Daniel Faraday) for their brilliant explanations.

Thirdly, someone wondered why I went the long route in the last chapter by bringing J'onn in to question Vartel rather than just having Wonder Woman use the lasso of truth. I must ashamedly hang my head in shamed ashamedness and admit that I completely forgot about the golden lasso. I've been reading 'Final Crisis' and have been so obsessed with J'onn's awesomness that I failed to remember that Diana has some wicked interrogation skills herself. So in a heinous act of retcon, I stuck it in this chapter (Hey if they can get away with retcon in 'Eternal', I can do it in hereJ)

Lastly, Lois' "amazing theory" regarding Cira's origins I totally dedicate to Drvr8, who completely inspired me.

I hope you guys enjoy this one....

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**Chapter 5: Interchange**

**Saturday November 12 2018 – 21:33**

Oliver stepped out onto the apartment's terrace. The night was warm despite it being November. Though he was mostly based in Star City, Metropolis' weather was something he missed when he was out of the country. From the balcony he could see most of the city, including the clock-tower-his one-time home. That time seemed so long ago, as if it were someone else's life he was remembering from a movie or a book. The glass doors slid open behind him and Dinah stepped into the balmy night air. She silently moved next to him so that their bodies were just touching. For a while, they just watched the city as it hummed and buzzed with Saturday night activity. Oliver felt a sudden warmth as Dinah's hand covered his on the railing. He linked his fingers with hers, knowing this was the closest they would come to a real apology. They both stared ahead, neither acknowledging the contact.

"How's Lois?" he asked finally.

"Coping," Dinah replied. "I think if the face she put on was any braver, she be donning war paint."

Oliver smiled faintly. "Yeah, she's always been a tough cookie. Clark's with her?"

Dinah nodded. "He's waiting for Bruce to come back before he officially starts the meeting, but I think he wanted to tell Lois what was happening first."

"Where'd Bruce go?" Oliver turned around to face the living room, but through the glass doors all he could see was Chloe and Zatanna chatting in the living room and Bart eating ice-cream in the kitchen.

"He figured we're probably gonna be here for a while, so he left to Gotham to get Chloe's suitcase, you know, her vitamins and stuff."

Oliver shook his head. "Man, that bat is whipped. Why won't he just tell her how he feels?"

Dinah snorted. "Bruce Wayne, opening up about his feelings? What alternate universe are you living in?"

"But he already asked her to move in. I mean, that's gotta be progress."

Dinah moved closer to him. "Under the guise of work. She thinks he let her stay with him so that she and Barbra could work closer together. Also, it's only been six months since Jimmy's death; I don't think Chloe's looking for a replacement daddy just yet."

Oliver glanced back to where Chloe and Zatanna were talking. "Doesn't help that he's got Selina slinking in and out at all hours."

Dinah shrugged. "I don't like cats, either, but Bruce is complicated, we can't force him to do anything."

Oliver walked his finger up her arm. "And how is it that you know so much about Bruce?"

She smiled playfully. "I've got a thing for hot men in tights."

"Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, huh," Dinah moved even closer, "but unfortunately, grey's not really my colour."

"It's not?"

"Nope," she leaned up so that her lips were practically brushing his. "I much prefer green."

Oliver gripped her arms and crushed his mouth against hers. She kissed him back urgently. When they eventually pulled apart, they were both breathless.

"I'm sorry about this morning," he said softly, and rested his forehead against hers.

Dinah looked at him sadly. "I get it, Ollie, you don't have to explain. You don't want kids with me. Fine. We can get a parrot."

He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "It's not that I don't want kids with you," he sighed, "it's just..." he looked past her to the window of Lois and Clark's bedroom where he knew they were talking. "This life of ours is so dangerous, so demanding, having a kid is not only a choice but also a liability. If anything happened to our kid, I don't know if I could be as strong as Clark is."

***

"I wanted to kill him, Lois. I've never felt so out of control before. I wanted to..." Clark was sitting at the edge of the bed, his hands clenched at either side of him.

"Shhh," she stepped between his legs and ran her hands through his hair, ruffling the thick black curls. "It's okay now. We know his game and we're gonna beat him at it."

"He was just so full of anger. He knew exactly what would hurt me the most. He targeted Cira because he knew...he knew what it was like to lose a child. He wanted me to feel that."

"Hey," she cut him off sharply. "If what he said was true,"

"It was true," Clark interrupted. "Diana used the lasso on him after he spoke to me. Everything he said was fact."

"Well, then she's safe. For now at least. That gives us time to get her back before Mr. Psycho pulls anyone else's strings." She tilted his face up to look at her. "We don't have to play his game, Smallville. You got the dice, use 'em."

Clark looked up into her trusting, confident eyes and felt a tug of guilt. He hated keeping things from her, but he couldn't tell her about what Vartel had planted on Cira. He couldn't take that hope away. He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. "Did I ever tell you that you're amazing?"

Lois tapped her chin as she pretended to think. "Hmm, I can't seem to recall, you may have to remind me from time to time."

He pulled her down onto his lap. ""You're amazing," he whispered, kissing her softly. Lois was about to pull him in for a deeper kiss when Chloe's voice echoed from the dinning room.

"Guys, Bruce is back!"

She reluctantly got off Clark's lap and held her hand out for him to take. "Let's go get our daughter," she said firmly. He took her hand they walked out of the room together.

**Saturday November 12 2009– 20:07**

"She's not our daughter."

Clark frowned at Lois who was pacing up and down the length of her small bedroom. "Lois, you just said-"

"What I mean is, she's not our actual daughter as in product of our loins." She suddenly stopped pacing. "Did I just say that?"

"Lois, I'm shocked too, but maybe-"

She held up her hand to silence him. "Look, Clark, just hear me out, okay?"

He eyed her cautiously, "Okay."

"So, the kid's about four or five right? And I came to Smallville exactly five years ago."

"What does this have to do with-?"

She took a step towards him. "Remember the labs I found when the dam exploded or imploded or whatever? Well, there were some weird things going on in there. Like evil genius weird. And I remember reading this article when I was at the _Inquirer_ about cloning and genetic modification. The kind of stuff LuthorCorp was into."

"You think Lex has something to do with this?" The thought of Lex still meddling his life ruffled Clark's feathers.

"Well, he did have some sort of icky fanboy crush on you," she shrugged, "you know, before he married your ex-honey and joined world-domination. com"

"Is there a point you're getting to?"

"Yeah," she closed the gap between them. "What if, during the height of his obsession, Lex stole your..." she motioned towards his crotch "You know, your...baby-making juice to create like a super race or something."

He eyed her warily. "What do mean 'super'?"

"You know, shampoo commercial hair, Colgate smile, endearingly dorkie, good with farm chores, the usual. But to do that, he'd need a female, right, so, he abducted me, harvested _my_ eggs and whipped up a Lois and Clark cocktail and voila' a child is born. I always thought those crazy dreams I have were cause of all those times I got knocked over the head, but this is a much better explanation." She frowned, "And much creepier."

Clark stared at her disbelievingly. "Why would Lex use your eggs?"

She looked at him like it was obvious. "Well duh? He needed the best genetic material out there to balance out your weak genes. It also explains were she came from. She must have escaped from a LuthorCorp lab."

"Lois," Clark shook his head, "I swear, you're amazing. Your ability to concoct these crazy stories..."

"What?! Crazy things happen around here all the time."

"Number one," Clark wriggled his thumb. "That doesn't explain how she knows us. Number two," he lifted up his index finger, "When Oliver took over LuthorCorp, he made sure all of those labs were destroyed and number three, it's just too weird to be true." _Weirder than an alien baby crash landing in a cornfield? _a voice in his head seemed to say. But for some reason, he knew that Cira was theirs, and not just biologically theirs, but that she _belonged_ to them. He just had no idea how to explain that to Lois.

Lois slumped down onto the edge of her bed and looked up at him. "Then what's your great theory, Sherlock? Cause I'm slowly running out of ways to make sense of this."

"I don't have theory," Clark admitted. "I think I should talk to Cira, find out what she knows." He wanted to talk to her in private to caution her against telling Lois anything about her abilities...or his.

"Alright," Lois nodded resolutely. "She's just a kid, right? How hard can one little interview be?"

"I think I should talk to her alone, you know, it might seem less intimidating that way."

"So that the two of you can have some daddy-daughter bonding time? I don't think so." She hopped off the bed. "If this kid's got something to say," I wanna hear it." Clark sighed. It was only fair.

"Okay, let's go." They walked out of the room together.

**Saturday November 12 2018 – 21:45**

"Hey Lois, you got anymore of those mini-pizza things?" Bart's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Freezer, top shelf," Lois yelled back before refocusing her attention to the discussion at the table.

"Why 2009?" Zatanna was asking. "Why then specifically?"

Clark was sitting at the head of his dining room table, surrounded by the people he trusted most in the world. They had decided to have their pow-wow in the apartment so that Lois could be involved. Taking her to the Watchtower would have been tricky. So far, only Lois and Diana, who was currently babysitting the prisoner, knew what Vartel had told him.

"Vartel believes I'm responsible for his son's death," Clark began. "He sent Cira to 2009 so that I'd be forced to go back and stop the murder."

"Why does Vartel blame you?" Bart asked as he joined the party, his plate stacked with mini pizzas. "You'd never hurt a kid."

"According to Vartel, on the 14th of November, 2009, I stopped a bus from going over a bridge in Smallville. On the bus was the man who would later that day, shoot his twelve year old son."

"So Vartel figures that if you stop your younger self from saving that bus, the killer dies and his son is saved?" Oliver asked.

"Something like that," Clark replied. "If I never save that bus, I never save the life of the murderer on it."

"Don't even begin to blame yourself, Smallville." Lois spoke up. "You are not responsible for what people do with the second chances you grant them."

"Remember, Graeme, Clark?" Chloe asked, leaning forward.

"The hitman?" Lois turned to her, frowning.

"You don't get to choose who you save Clark. Lois is right, what people choose to do with their lives once you save them is not on you."

"Wait," Lois held up her hand. "You saved that asshole? Before or after he peeping-Tomed me in the shower."

"Before," Clark said shortly. "And you're right Chloe, I'm not responsible for Vartel's son's murder, but if I go back, there may be a way to save him and Cira."

"Hold on a second," all eyes shifted to Oliver. "You're actually considering doing this? Clark, you can't be serious."

"Ollie's right," Dinah said. "It could be a trap."

Clark shook his head. "Diana used her lasso on him. Everything he said is true."

"Why can't he go back?" Chloe asked. "I mean, he's all about the time travel mojo, right? Why can't he just zap himself back to when it happened and save his son?"

"He says its because he wasn't there the first time it happened."

"So?" Lois asked. "What does that have to do with anything."

"Apparently, a person can't go back in time to a place they've never been because they weren't there the first time. His power doesn't allow it."

The table fell quiet. "What?!" Bart asked, his mouth still full of pizza.

"Superman," J'onn spoke up for the first time since the meeting began. "If I may explain."

Clark nodded eagerly. "Please do."

"For human beings, time exists in a linear format. A straight line," J'onn simplified, noting Bart's confused expression. "You can move only forward on this line, collecting memories of what has come before. In actuality, time is more cyclic than it is linear. It is a loop through which everything happened, is happening and will happen simultaneously. Whatever happened happened and will continue to happen."

Bart raised his hand.

"Yes, Flash?"

"So, like, I was always gonna eat those pizzas?"

J'onn nodded. "Yes."

"So it was my destiny to eat those pizzas?"

"What you call destiny, others may call predetermination. It does not mean that you have no free will, only that the choices you make, are the choices you have always made."

"What does this have to do with Cira?" Lois asked.

"The reason Tim Vartel cannot travel back to Smallville in 2009 in because he never was in Smallville in 2009. The younger version of Clark Kent, was. Therefore Tim Vartel believes that the present Clark Kent may be able to go back to influence the younger Clark Kent. There are stronger artefacts, such as the Justice Ring which could allow someone who has not been in a certain time before, to travel back to that time as an observer, but they would have no influence on events. It would be like looking at a scene through a window."

"Hold on," Chloe piped up. "I thought you said whatever happened happened. How is this time gonna be different? If Vartel's son died, then he died. Nothing we do can stop that."

"We can try," Clark insisted.

"She is right, Superman. Nothing you do can change what happened to Vartel's son. He is misguided in his belief."

"But we can still get Cira right?" Lois asked desperately. "I mean, if this has all happened before, then Clark can go back, Cira will be fine cause she's not even born yet, right?"

"I do not know what will happen next," J'onn confessed, "For this moment is our present whatever happens from this moment on, we are experiencing for the first time. Cira is in your past, but it is her present."

"Dude, my brain's fried," Bart announced. "I flunked geometry at school."

"This is astrophysics," J'onn replied.

"So we know were Cira is," Lois stated. "Why can't we just time zap back to 2009 and get her?"

"We cannot move Cira because of the temporal disturbance detector Tim Vartel attached to your daughter."

"The temporal what now?"

"It is a device which analyses and detects a change in temporal environment. Vartel modified it so that if your daughter is moved through time within the next 36 hours, the device will detonate and she will be killed.

"KILLED?" Lois turned to Clark. "You didn't tell me that there was a bomb attached to our daughter! God, Clark! You have to get this guy to turn it off. Tell him, you'll save his son, tell him whatever the hell you want, just get him to turn it off."

Clark shut his eyes and pinched his brow. Not good.

"I have it under control," he said slowly. "Nothing we do to Vartel is going to stop the bomb from going off. We just have to wait is all."

"All we're doing is waiting!" Lois cried. "Our daughter's out there with a bomb attached to her and we're sitting here eating mini pizzas!"

Bart stopped in mid chew and looked slightly ashamed.

"If I may, Lois," J'onn ventured. "Your daughter is perfectly safe as long as she does not time travel."

"At least we know she's safe," Chloe reassured, taking Lois' hand. "I mean, who better to take care of her than her parents, right?"

"Why don't you remember her?" Bruce's voice came out of the darkness. He was leaning against the wall behind Chloe's chair. "If this all happened already, why don't either of you remember being visited by your daughter?"

Lois and Clark looked at each other.

"Do you?" Lois started.

"No," Clark shook his head.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked. "He said he sent her to you, right? And he couldn't have been lying."

"Oh, God," Lois' voice trembled. "What if he just thought he did, but she's actually somewhere else, somewhere..."

"I'm going back," Clark said suddenly. "I'll use the Justice Ring."

"Clark, you heard J'onn, you won't be able to do anything. You'll be powerless." Chloe said.

"I'll be able to see if she's okay," he replied.

"What if Dinah's right?" Zatanna asked. "What if it is a trap, Clark? The world without Superman, even if it is just for a few minutes, is a vulnerable world."

"I'll go." Everyone turned to look at Bruce. He stepped towards Clark. "I've got nothing to lose. I'll go."

Clark looked up at him gratefully.

"This is my daughter we're talking about, Bruce," Lois said. "Please try not to get killed before you can report back here."

He shot her a rare smile. "I'll try my best." He looked at Clark. "Once I get to the Watchtower, I'll give you a call."

Clark nodded. "Good luck."

Bart, J'onn and Zatanna followed Bruce to the elevator, leaving the rest to do nothing but wait.

**Saturday November 12 2009– 20:30**

"I don't know about this, Lois."

Lois glared at him. "If you have better idea, Smallville, I would love to hear it. Right now, though I'm just about hanging on to my sanity, so unless you can find another way to disprove the crazy idea that that kid is our offspring, I suggest you back me up."

Clark held his hands up in surrender. "I'll go get her."

Cira was singing along with the talking teapot when Clark came up to her. "Are you and mommy finished 'passionately disagreeing?'" she asked in a serious voice.

"Where did you hear that?" Clark asked, amused by her choice of words.

"Mommy said that when you yell loud, you're just 'passionately disagreeing' so are you done now? Cause I'm thirsty."

He smiled and offered her his hand. "Come on, when I was little, my dad would get me warm milk before bed. Would you like that?"

"Uh-huh," she responded, placing her little hand in his.

Lois was pacing in the kitchen when he propped Cira up on the counter.

"What's goin' on, Mommy?"

Lois found she couldn't take her eyes off the little girl. "This is so weird," she murmured in awe.

Clark moved behind her. He poured some milk into a cup and popped it into the microwave.

"Okay," Lois said breaking out in fake enthusiasm. "We're gonna play a little game."

"Can I play?" Cira asked excitedly.

"Sure," Clark nodded, handing her the milk. "In fact, you can start."

"Right," Lois came up behind him and addressed Cira. "This is how it goes. We're gonna pretend that we're investigating a story. Do you know what that means?"

Cira nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh. It's what you and daddy do at the Planet," she said proudly.

"Uh, yeah," Lois said, obviously rattled. "So we're gonna pretend that we don't know you and ask you a bunch of questions, okay?"

Cira pulled a face. "This sounds like a boring game."

Clark smiled. "Hey Cira, if you answer all the questions really well, we'll um..."

"We'll buy you a pony." Lois stated and shrugged sheepishly when Clark shot her a bewildered look.

Cira seemed to digest this, then nodded, "Okay."

Both Clark and Lois faced Cira, who was sitting on the kitchen counter, her legs dangling over the edge, her upper lip stained with milk. She looked at them expectantly.

"So," Lois started. "Can you tell us your name?"

"Cira Lane-Kent," she stated definitively.

They stared at her dumbly. This denial thing was getting harder and harder, Lois thought.

Clark cleared his throat loudly. "Uh, Cira, do you know our names?"

"Clark Kent and Lois Lane-Kent," she said as if reading it off a page. Cira continued, oblivious to their astonishment. "But sometimes, Daddy and Aunt Chloe call you 'Lo', mommy."

"Chloe?!" Both of them echoed. Lois looked at Clark. "This is getting really creepy."

"What do you know about Chloe?" Clark asked.

"Um, she bought me a tallyscope for my birthday. And her tummy's real big 'cause there's a baby in there. Aunt Chloe said she thinks it's a girl, but Grandma Martha said it's definitely a boy, and mommy, you said that Grandma Martha's always right about these things."

Both of them stood agape.

"And at thanksgiving, Grandma asked when you're gonna get me a brother or sister and mommy, you said not for a very long time, but then in the car when daddy said maybe you should get working on it, you said you sure wanna get working on something then daddy drove home real fast and you laughed and I was wondering if I could please have a kitten and not a brother cause Jenny at the park has a brother and he cries loud and smells." Cira took a deep breath.

For the first time in maybe ever, Clark saw Lois blush a bright red.

She finally continued, refusing to look at Clark. "Cira, do you know what the date is?"

She looked confused. "It's a Saturday?"

"Okay, how about this. How old are you?"

Cira held up four fingers then hastily added the fifth. She smiled proudly. "It was my birthday."

"Do you know the date of your birthday?" Clark asked. "Do you know when you were born?"

Cira bit her bottom lip in a gesture that was so Lois, Clark wanted to laugh. "November 10th 2013."

Lois' eyes went wide. "No freaking way!"

"Lois," Clark mumbled through a strained smile, "You're scaring her."

"Well, what do you expect," she replied, a similar smile pasted on her face, "She just told us she's the ghost of Christmas Future."

"She looks real enough to me," Clark said, still smiling at Cira who was looking at both of them with a bemused expression.

"Can we go home now?" she eventually asked as her eyes began to droop.

Lois and Clark shared a glance. "Um, we're gonna stay here for a while." Lois began.

"Why?" Cira asked, using every five year olds catchphrase.

Lois vocalised the first thing that popped into her head. "Cause our house is being fumigated."

"Why?"

She sighed. "Cause it's full of bugs."

"Yuck!" Cira replied, pulling a disgusted face. "Is Krypto gonna come too?"

"No, Krypto's gonna stay to make sure our house is safe." Clark said hastily.

"Krypto?" Lois scoffed and turned to Clark. "I can't believe you named our dog _Krypto_!"

"What's wrong with Krypto?" he asked, defending his future choice of name.

"I already told, you," she said, "It's dumb."

"Well I also remember you telling me that I could name my next dog Krypto."

"Well," Lois, sniffed, "that was before I knew he'd be my dog too." She suddenly frowned. "Why do we even have dog? I'm allergic."

Clark smirked, "You said that about me and look how we end up."

Lois shot him a withering look, "It's way too early to be pulling the funny out of this sitch, Smallville."

"You're absolutely right," he conceded, but found it nearly impossible to wipe that stupid grin off his face.

Lois struggled hard not to return his smile as the absurdity of their situation dawned on her. Sitting on her kitchen counter was five-year old, living proof that one Lois Lane was destined to end up with Clark Kent. Maybe Jimmy had gotten it right when he'd said that Lois and Clark would be great together, she thought wryly.

Cira wrinkled her nose and yawned. "I'm sleepy and we stop playing now?"

Lois ventured a glance at Clark. "We should probably get her to bed."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Great, "she replied, slowly backing away. "You do that and I'll just…well I need a shower, so I'm gonna…" as her back hit the bathroom door with a thud, she quickly turned around and disappeared into it, leaving Clark alone with the sleepy five-year old.

Once alone in the quiet of her tiny blue and green bathroom, Lois felt suddenly and completely overwhelmed. She leaned back against the door and slumped down onto the cool tiles. Breathe, Lane, she commanded herself. Just breathe and calm the hell down. Taking deep breaths, Lois steadied herself. She closed her eyes and tried to reason it out. Right now, Clark was in her bedroom singing lullabies to their future daughter, a daughter who claimed they were married, and happily so by the sound of it. To hell with reason, Lois thought. This was so beyond…_POP!_

Her eyes flew open at the sound of large bubble bursting. She scrambled up in shock as the figure of what looked like a man in some sort of rodent costume appeared in the middle of her bathroom. He swooned unsteadily for a second before fixing his gaze on her. Reaching for the first thing in sight, Lois brandished her long-handled loofah at him in warning.

"Stay back!" she shouted, fumbling with the door handle behind her back.

"Lois." There was cool edge to his voice. "I'm looking for Cira. Is she here with you?"

"You stay away from her!" Lois yelled, holding out the loofah.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just need to know that she's safe."

"Lois?" Clark called from the bedroom. "Is everything alright?"

The man in black took a step forward. "Just tell me if she's okay."

"You're the magic man," Lois comprehended. "You sent her here!"

He took another step towards her. "No, you don't understand."

Before he could take another step, Lois whacked the side of his head with the handle of the sponge and yanked bathroom door open, running smack bang into Clark's solid chest.

"What happened?"

"Clark, there's someone in there," she said, shakily. "I think he's after Cira."

Clark angled his head slightly. "I don't hear anything."

Lois looked confused. "Well of course you don't hear anything. Go in and check."

She rolled her eyes as Clark pushed her behind him and cautiously opened the door. "Lois, there's no one in here." She watched as Clark scanned the room intently, as if he were looking for something that wasn't there. "There's no-one outside either," he said finally.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Uh, the window's not open," he said. "If someone escaped through there, they wouldn't be able to close it on their way out."

"Well, he sort of appeared out of nowhere."

"What do you mean _appeared_?"

"As in _poof_, or I guess it was more like _pop."_

"What did he look like?" Clark asked

"He was wearing some sort of costume, like a short-eared bunny or something. 'Bunnyman'."

"You think he's the magic man Cira was talking about?"

Lois shrugged. "He was asking about her and he didn't seem too friendly either."

"We have to find out how she got here and why." He walked towards the bedroom.

"Well I'm guessing her face isn't gonna be on any milk cartons. Where do we even start?"

"I don't know," Clark admitted, staring at Cira who was obliviously sleeping on Lois' bed. "But we can't stay here. It isn't safe."

"So where do you propose we go?"

Clark took Lois' coat off the hanger and handed it to her. "Smallville."

* * *


	6. Memory Lane

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone for their wonderful reviews. It's what keeps the inspiration flowing, seriously. Sorry if this update took a bit longer than usual, my thesis is due is a week so I'm writing this on the sly :)

Lots of fluffy fluff in this one, so hope you enjoy...

* * *

**Chapter 6: Memory Lane**

**November 12 2009 – 21:30**

Bruce laid his black gloved palms flat against the roof of the building where he was perched like a gargoyle, his head tilted as if he where listening to the whisper of the city and all its secrets. But from his vantage point above the air vent, Bruce was only interested in the two very familiar voices below.

"_So where do you propose we go?"_

"_Smallville."_

"_And then what?"_

"_We'll figure something out, Lois. But we can't stay here, it's not safe."_

Bruce heard shuffling.

"_Here, we should probably put this over her,"_

Slowly, with the stealth of a wild cat, he lowered himself head first off the edge of the fire escape. Hanging like a bat, covered in darkness, he watched the 22 year version of Clark Kent lift the little girl out of bed, as carefully as if she were made of glass. Lois then threw a frayed blanket over Cira's shoulders, taking care to make sure she was covered. Their motions were synchronous and comfortable, as if they had done this a hundred times before. He found their instinctive naturalism oddly comforting. As he watched them exit out of the apartment, Bruce's mind wondered to Chloe. Who would hold her child as she made sure they were warm from the cold of the night? He closed his eyes for a moment and shook away those thoughts. He was not that man. As he lowered himself onto the metal steps and watched from above as Clark opened the car door for Lois who gently took Cira out of his arms. He would never be that man.

Turning away from the city lights, Bruce slipped on the Justice Ring and disappeared into shadow.

**November 12, 2018 – 23:00**

"Thanks, Bruce." Clark paced up and down the length of his living room, as Lois watched on anxiously. "Get some rest, you can report here in the morning." Lois was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Don't worry about it; I think we've pretty much turned this place into the temporary HQ." Clark nodded in acknowledgement when Lois held out her hand, indicating she wanted the receiver.

"Hold on a sec, Lois wants to talk to you." He handed the phone to his wife.

"Bruce, did you actually see her? I mean she's okay right?" Her sigh of relief was audible. "So you didn't interact with past us then?"

Clark watched in amusement as Lois' face pulled into a frown. "Why would I attack you with a loofah?!"

Something Bruce said made her grin. "Well, that's what you get for scaring the hell out of me." Her face softened as she listened to the rest of Bruce's account. Clark sunk down onto the sofa, feeling better than he had in hours. Cira was safe. That was all that mattered.

"Thanks, Bruce," he heard Lois saying, her voice tight with emotion. "You're a good friend." After a pause she added, "Chloe's staying the night, so if you want..." Bruce's reply caused her to shake her head, "Okay, Batman. Have it your way. Goodnight." She tossed the phone onto the counter and collapsed next to Clark, feeling exhausted and wired all at once.

"She's okay," Lois said softly. She rested her head on Clark's shoulder and closed her eyes. He brought his arm around her and pulled her in, revelling in the comfort of her warm body. "Now all we have to focus on is getting her back where she belongs."

"I have a plan," Clark admitted.

Lois pulled back to look at him. "Care to share?"

He looked hesitant to divulge, but he also knew that no amount of evading would throw Lois off. "I'm going to speak to Vartel. I'm going to do it his way, ask him to send me back."

Lois sat straight up. "Clark, no. There are other ways to get her back. This Vartel guy may have set it up to be a trap. If you use the Justice Ring-"

"I can only go back for a couple of minutes."

"That's enough time to get Cira," she reasoned.

"But not enough to save Vartel's son."

Lois pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You heard what J'onn said. Whatever happened, happened. I hate saying this, but nothing you try can change the fact that that little boy is going to die."

"Lois, think about it," he looked at her intently. "Don't you think it's strange that we have no memory of this happening? I mean if this all happened before then we should have remembered Cira from before she was born. But we didn't. So maybe J'onn's got it wrong. Maybe there is a way to save this boy's life." When Lois sighed, he reached out and took her hands in his. "Tim Vartel took Cira away to show me just how much it hurts to lose a child. I'm not saying that what he did was okay and believe me, Lois, I want to see him punished just as much as you do, but if there's a chance that I can change things, I'm going to take it."

Her eyes softened and she reached out and gently touched his jaw. "Clark, I know you feel like you need to save everyone, but sometimes...you just can't. You said it yourself, Vartel was crazy with grief and he blames you. He wants you hurt you, Clark. If you play this his way, I'm worried that he'll succeed. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

He took her hand pressed his lips against it. "I promise to do whatever it takes to get out daughter back."

She looked at him sceptically, "You think I can't see through your fudge, Smallville?"

Clark smiled, "I'd never dare deceive Lois Lane, intrepid reporter."

"That's Lois Lane-Kent, to you, handsome." She smiled and leaned back against him, letting things lie for the time being.

"We'll get through this," Clark said quietly, kissing the top of her head. "We always do."

**Saturday July 23, 2016 – 18:30**

"I can't believe Ollie's engaged." Lois walked out their bathroom en-suite in stockings and underwear. She slipped into her black cocktail dress and turned her back to Clark.

"Well, it's not official yet." He carefully zipped up the back.

"This black-tie affair's about as official as it gets. All he needs to do now is hit a fork against a champagne glass." Rolling her eyes, Lois lifted Clark's tie off his neck and slung in around her own, effortlessly knotting it.

"How is it that after all these years, you still can't do this properly?" she asked, lowering it over his head and pushing it up.

He shot her a sheepish grin. "Clip-ons usually work just fine. Besides, you tie a better knot than me."

"Smallville, I do most things better than you. That's why you married me."

Clark hooked his finger into the front of her dress and tugged her forward against him. "That's one of the many reasons I married you."

When he leaned down for a kiss, she pushed him back and shot him a wry grin, "No way, hero. I know that look in your eyes and it usually ends with us being late. The gig's in an hour and we've still got to drop the little Lane off with her grandma."

Clark glanced to their bed where Cira was sitting amongst a heap of Lois' clothes in her footie pyjamas, scowling at her teddy-bear. "Now you lithen 'ere Mithter. I'm getting that thtorwy if I gotta come down there pummel it outta ya."

Lois shook her head, amused. "We have gotta stop talking shop around the munchkin."

Clark chuckled. "You mean you have got to stop. I'm fairly sure I've never threatened to 'pummel' anybody."

"Hey, it's rule number three" she shrugged, "Do whatever it takes to get the story," She turned to their daughter, "Cira, you ready to go to Grandma?"

Cira looked up. "Can I take Bernie with?" She held up her tatty old bear.

"Sure," Lois replied. "Smallville, you set?"

Clark adjusted his tie one final time then looked around. "I can't find my glasses."

Lois sighed. "I swear, you need to attach them to a string or something. This is ridiculous."

He rifled through his jacket pockets. "I had them a second ago. I think." He looked at his daughter who was known for playing hide-and-seek with inanimate objects. "Cira, did you take Daddy's glasses?"

She shook her head. "No, it's in the dwawer." She pointed towards his dresser. "Over there, Daddy."

Clark walked towards his dresser and found the black rimmed spectacles under a book he'd been reading that afternoon. He lifted them out then slowly turned to Cira.

"Honey, how did you know daddy's glasses where in there?"

She looked away from Bernie the bear to her father. "I sawed it."

Lois looked from Cira to Clark, realising what he suspected. "You mean you saw Daddy putting it in there?" she asked.

Cira shook her head. "No, I sawed them in the dwawer. Under the book."

Clark swallowed and looked at Lois, his eyes anxious. Lois dug her hand into her bag and pulled something out. She extended her closed fist towards Cira and said, "Honey, can you see what's in Mommy's hand?"

The little girl frowned and focused on her mother. "It's an earwing, Mommy. The blue one."

Clark and Lois shared a long look. Eventually, Clark looked back at his daughter. "Cira, come here."

She scooted off the bed and came to stand next to Clark, looking up at him with wide-eyed trust and expectancy. He knelt down beside her and smiled reassuringly. "I want you to try something, okay sweetheart?"

Cira nodded, "Okay."

He motioned for her to crouch then guided her hands under the bed.

"Clark, are you sure..." Lois began.

"Lois, we have to know," he said softly. "Okay Cira, now I want you to try and pick up the bed, can you try?"

She strained and pushed until red in the face. Eventually, she stood up and shrugged her little shoulders. "I'm sowee, Daddy. It's too heavy."

Clark picked her up and hugged her close against him. "It's okay, honey. You did good." Lois walked up to them and took Cira from Clark.

"Baby, go and say goodbye to Krypto. You're not gonna see him til tomorrow."

Cira broke out into a toothy grin. "Can I give him a doggy biscuit?"

Lois tucked her hair behind her ear. "Just one, okay?"

Cira nodded eagerly then bounded off towards the kitchen where their new puppy was chewing at the rug.

Once she was gone, Lois turned back to Clark who was sitting at the edge of the bed, his face a myriad of emotions.

Lois sat down next to him. "Hey, don't go all silent and broody on me, Smallville. Use your words."

"I didn't want this for her," he said finally. "When she was born, I was just so happy that she was...normal. I didn't want her to have to go through a life of secrets and hiding who she really is."

Lois lifted his chin up to look at her. "Listen to me, Clark. Cira is Superman's daughter-normal was never in the cards for her. We always knew this was a possibility. So she's got x-ray vision and maybe some other gifts. That makes her special, not strange. "

He sighed. "I know what it's like to grow up feeling like there's a part of you that will never be accepted, a part of you that has to be hidden."

"And because of that, because of us, our daughter will never have to feel that way."

He looked at her quizzically.

"Smallville, you're living proof that the world is beginning to change and accept people who are...different. And I'm living proof that there's always someone who'll love you, even if you can shoot fire out of your eyes. Look, we don't even know the extent of her powers. It may just end up being a quirky party-trick."

Clark smiled despite himself. "Some party-trick."

Lois returned his smile and fixed his glasses upon his face. "You can't plan for the big things in life, Smallville. Sometimes you just gotta let it happen."

"You read that off a bumper-sticker?"

Lois laughed and pulled him up. "I heard from a guy who's smarter than he thinks."

Clark was about to respond when Cira's voice reached them from the kitchen. "Mommee, Daddee!! Kwypto made a doodoo on the wug!"

Lois patted Clark's cheek and winked. "Better get to it, Superman."

**Saturday March 2, 2013 – 09:02**

Lois collapsed against Clark's chest, sweat drenched and breathing hard.

"You okay?" he finally managed, deliciously sated.

"Hmm-mm," she purred. "Ask me when the birds stop singing and I get my voice back."

His chest rumbled beneath her as he laughed. "It might take a while."

He could feel her mouth tug into a smile. "I was _not_ that loud," she argued, although the rasp of her voice suggested otherwise.

Clark ran his hand down her back causing Lois to shiver. "I think a couple of glasses in the kitchen shattered."

She pinched his side, causing him to laugh and squirm. Who'd have thought Superman was ticklish, she thought idly. She sat up and leaned back, exposing smooth lines and perfect curves to his very appreciative view. He frowned when he noticed a thumb sized bruise beginning to colour her upper arm.

He traced his fingers over it regretfully. "Lo, I'm sorry, I should have been more-"

"Hey," she cut him off sharply. "I'm not made of glass, Smallville. It'll fade. And you know what?" She leaned down so that her hair was lightly tickling his chest.

His lips twitched. "What?"

"It was definitely worth it," she whispered.

He leaned up and kissed the bruised area softly.

"In fact," she continued, trailing her hand over his chest, "you should go away for a month again sometime," she said with a wink, "reunion sex is almost better than make-up sex." When she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, Clark gaped in astonishment.

"Again?"

Lois shrugged one naked shoulder, "Well if you can't keep up, I guess..."

Clark flipped her over and kissed her senseless. When he eventually pulled back to stare at her, she tenderly laid her hand against his cheek. "I love you," she whispered, her hazel eyes filled with warmth. He leaned down and nuzzled his nose against hers in a playful Eskimo kiss.

"I love y-" he stopped in mid-sentence frowned.

Lois smoothed out the frown lines on his brow with her thumb. "What's wrong?"

Gently, he rolled off of her and moved his hand down, over the smooth warm skin just below her stomach. "There it is," he said softly.

"Smallville you're starting to freak me out. What's with the spacey expression?"

Clark stared at her in wonder. "Lois, how long have you been getting sick?"

She looked confused. "About a week. But I told, you, it's just a tummy bug or something. Don't worry about me, handsome."

"Lo," Clark exhaled tremblingly and moved his hand from her stomach to her heart. "I can hear two heartbeats."

"Well yeah," she replied as if it were obvious, "Unless you've got some sort of kryptonian ticker that doesn't tick I'm thinking that's normal."

"No," he looked at her intently. "I can hear two heartbeats in you."

She frowned. "_I_ have two heartbeats? That impossible. Why would there be another bea--oh my God!" She bolted up straight. "Are you--I mean, what does this mean? Are you sure?"

Clark sat up and fixed his gaze on her womb. He looked back up at her with wide, astonished eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. I can see it."

Lois went pale. "This is...this is just...bad." She stared at him, aghast. "Why are you smiling?

He hadn't even realised he was. "I guess, never really thought it was possible," Clark said finally and reached out to hold her but she jumped out of the bed, pulling the covers along with her.

"No," she said firmly, holding out her hand to ward him off. "You do not get to comfort me right now. This is all your fault."

Clark scrambled out of bed. "How exactly is this my fault?" he asked, trying hard to sound soothing. Lois glanced down pointedly. With a sigh, he pulled up his boxers.

"Point taken," he took a step towards her, "Lois, it's going to be alright."

"No, Clark, you don't get it." She shook her head, trying to form a coherent thought. "I'm twenty-eight years old, and we've only been married a year and there's the Planet and my career...and this part wasn't supposed to come until much later."

"Lois, I mean," he suddenly felt hopeless. "I know we never seriously talked about it, but I assumed...at least I always thought you wanted kids."

"I did." She sighed, "I mean, I do...it's just...look, Clark, you had your mom and your dad to look up to. Your father was the most amazing dad anyone could ask for and your mom, well, let's just say if turn out to be half the woman she is, I'll die happy."

Clark stared at her in surprise, realising maybe for the first time that Lois loved his parents almost as much as he did, that she truly was a part of the family since that very first day she stormed into the kitchen and helped herself to a mug of coffee. Now she was looking at him with big, conflicted eyes and all he wanted to do was hold her close and make it all better.

"I never had that," she said softly.

He frowned, not understanding. "Lois, your dad-"

"Did the best he could by me and Lucy. But it's no secret that he's a much better general than he is a father. And my mom, well, she didn't have much time to teach me the way of the world."

Lois sat down on the edge of the bed with a defeated sigh. "I guess what I'm saying is...I'm scared."

Clark sat down beside her and took her hand in his. "Lois..." he waited until she lifted her eyes to look into his. "I'm scared too. I never really though this was possible." His face suddenly took on an expression very similar to Lois'. "I mean, with me being-"

"An alien," she supplied.

His lips twitched. "I was going to say 'different' but I suppose that works. What I'm saying is..." he reached out and tucked stray hairs behind her ear. "I know this is unplanned and unexpected, but so was falling in love with you, and that's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She gave him a small smile through unshed tears, "Geez, Smallville, you're gonna make me blubber like a girl." She sniffed, "I just wish we had planned this better."

He shrugged, "You can't plan the big things in life. Sometimes you just have to let it happen."

She looked at him wryly. "You read that off a bumper-sticker?"

Clark smiled. "It's something my dad used to say when I felt like I had no control over my destiny. He would remind me that he and my mom found me in a cornfield. You don't plan that kind of thing." He moved closer to her and tentatively touched his hand to her flat belly. "Lois, we're making our destiny right now. We're having a baby."

It was the first time either of them had said it aloud. The words hung in the air like fragile soap bubbles ready to pop.

Lois exhaled a shaky breath and covered Clark's hand with hers. "We're having a baby," she echoed. Her frown lines smoothed out with a small, optimistic smile. "Wow."

Clark wrapped his arms around her, trying to still his own growing trepidation as he listened to the soft but steady beat of their future.

**November 12 2009 – 23:45**

Clark held the door open for Lois who was holding the sleeping Cira in her arms.

"Where to now?" she whispered so as not to wake Cira.

"Uh," he looked around. "My room I guess. She'll be safe there." Lois nodded and began to walk towards the stairs. She looked back with a bemused expression at Clark who was following them.

"I know the way, Smallville. You don't have to play tour guide."

"I know," he said and followed them up anyway.

With infinite gentleness, Lois lowered the sleeping child onto Clark's pillow and found herself breathing in the scent of him. Cira's eyes fluttered open as Lois stepped back.

"Don't go, Mommy," she said in a sleepy voice.

Lois looked back at Clark who was standing in the doorway. He looked sympathetic. "I can stay," he said softly.

Lois shrugged off her coat. "That's okay." She shot him an appreciative glance. "I think I got it." She got in next to Cira and shifted awkwardly when the little girl curled up in her lap like a kitten.

Clark turned to leave but was stopped by a plaintive, "Daddy? Where you goin'?"

He turned back around to see Cira regarding him through half shut lids, her one arm stretched out towards him. "You gotta sleep too Daddy so you're not all alone."

He looked at Lois who cleared her throat uncomfortably and gingerly scooted so as to make room. Slowly, Clark crossed the room and settled down next to Lois, cradling Cira between them. As he moved to get comfortable his hand covered Lois'. Their eyes met over Cira's head for second before Lois snapped her head forward, suddenly finding the knobs of Clark's wardrobe utterly fascinating.

They sat there for a while, Lois listening to Clark's steady breathing, Clark listening to Lois' somewhat irregular heartbeat until it slowed to a steady pace and he was sure she was sleeping. Venturing a glance over at the now sleeping Lois and Cira, Clark was overcome by a sudden sense of loneliness. He realised that since Lana left, he'd given very little thought to his solitude, almost accepting it as his constant state of being. Yet, looking at Lois and Cira, Clark was struck with the sudden desire for closeness and intimacy and family. Family, he realised, wasn't just something he was a part of, but something that was a part of him.

Getting up slowly, he pulled his red blanket over them and made his way down to the living room where he dropped onto the couch with a tired sigh. This is where Lois found him a half hour later.

She came into the living room with a mug of coffee and a sleepy yawn.

"Lois," Clark looked up from the book he was pretending to read. "I thought you were sleeping."

She sunk down next to him and drew her feet up under her. "I had this wacked out dream that I was visited by my kid from the future then woke up and realised that the subject of my dream was drooling on my arm."

"Yeah, I can see why sleeping would be hard after that."

Lois took a sip of her coffee and grimaced. She'd put way too much sugar in it, even for her. "I feel like I'm on one of those rides at a carnival, you know the one with the horses."

"A carousel," he supplied.

"Yeah," she said, "And it just keeps going round and round and I really wanna get off but I can't. At the longer I stay on, the dizzier I get until I feel like I'm gonna hurl."

"You want me to get you a bucket?" he asked jokingly.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Come on, you aren't freaked out by this whole blast to the past? I mean, that kid should seriously be wearing a sweater saying 'spoiler alert'."

"It's strange," he conceded. "But, I guess, as futures go, mine could have gone worse."

She frowned. "What are you talking about? You're like Joe Normal. You're future is laid out in front of you. House in the burbs, 2.5 kids, wife who stays at home and knits booties."

Clark opened his mouth to speak then thought better of it.

She took another sip from her coffee then glanced towards the stairs. "So," she began hesitantly, "do think she's for real?"

He shrugged. "She seems to know a lot about us. I mean, future us. And she does look like she could be..."

"Ours," Lois finished for him. They stared at each other.

"Wow," she said finally, "I'm gonna need something stronger. Hope you got the key to the liquor cabinet, Smallville cause I'm thinking we need an all access pass right about now."

**November 13 2009 – 01:07**

**7 tequila shots later...**

Lois smiled at Clark through a marshmallowy haze clouding her brain. This was the bestest idea ever she thought, staring at the cute farm-boy who was looking back at her with an adorable mixture of expectancy and amusement.

"Okay, okay, I got one," she slurred slightly. "First time you...broke a bone."

"I've never broken a bone," he admitted while trying to surreptitiously move the tequila bottle behind the couch and out of Lois' view.

"Oh, dainty Smallville," she cooed. "Never played with the big boys huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "How many bones have you broken, Lois?"

She proudly lifted up her thumb and index finger the pointed to her left arm. "Some people are just tougher than others," she said, looking around for the tequila bottle.

"Or more accident prone," he replied. "Alright, my turn," he said quickly, before she had a chance to find it. "First time you got your heart broken?" He didn't know why he asked it. Suddenly it seemed he wanted to know every little detail about the rather intoxicated woman sitting next to him. It was Lois' idea to play the game. She'd said that since it seemed likely that they were due to procreate at some point it was only fair that they get to know each other a little better. It seemed the more alcohol Lois consumed, the more she was willing to share and the more he wanted to know. On some level, he knew it was unfair. He knew that he could never tell her everything, but somehow even that began to look possible. He reasoned that he must have told her at some point, he knew Lois well enough to know that she'd never agree to have him if she suspected that he was holding anything back.

So here they were, sitting on his couch at 1am drinking tequila and bearing their souls...mostly.

"Um..." she narrowed her eyes as he thought about it. "Cory Martin. Third grade."

Clark grinned. "What happened?"

"I saw him kissing Katie Pike under the monkey bars." She sighed dramatically. "I always knew she was a hussy."

He chuckled. "Aren't you gonna ask me?"

Lois shot him a patent 'oh please' look, "Lana Lang, junior year, Lana Lang sophomore year, Lana Lang senior year, Lana Lang college...need I go on?"

"No, you've made you point," he said dryly, surprised at how much her words didn't sting.

"Okay, my turn." She turned to face him completely. "First kiss? And If you dare say Lana La-"

"Chloe Sullivan," he replied, cutting her off.

Lois looked taken aback. "Really?! Chloe?"

Clark nodded with a smile.

"Wow," she said, "Who'd have guessed."

"What's the matter Lois," he grinned unable to keep from baiting her, "You feeling left out?"

She snorted. "As if. Smallville, I would not kiss you if you were the last plaid wearing farm boy on the planet."

He was about to bring up a certain almost kiss at Chloe's wedding then thought better of it. "What about you", he asked. "First kiss?"

"Cory Martin," she sighed.

"Ah," Clark responded. "That would explain the broken heart."

"And his black eye," she admitted with a proud smile. "My turn."

"Actually, it's my-"

"First time," Lois interrupted.

Clark looked at her expectantly. "First time...?"

Lois raised her brows. "First time," she repeated.

"Oh," he exhaled. "My first time was with Lana," he answered honestly.

"Right," she nodded, "Of course."

"What, um, w-what about you?" He suddenly wished he was as vulnerable to alcohol as she was. It would make this whole thing a lot less awkward.

"Gordon Tait." Lois smiled softly, remembering and Clark felt the sudden and unexpected urge to throttle this guy.

"So, uh what happened?"

She shot him a mischievous look. "You wanna know details of my first time Smallville? What happened to Mr. Squeaky-Clean Granola Farm-boy?"

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I didn't mean..."

"That's okay," she said with an amused expression. "I guess I could kiss and tell. Besides, it's really not that interesting."

"Let me guess, he was dark, dangerous and drove a motorcycle?"

Lois laughed, "How about nice, nerdy and wore glasses."

He looked at her sceptically.

"Look, I'm not saying I don't fancy a little bad boy once in a while, but Gordon, he was sweet."

Clark raised his eyebrow. "Sweet?"

Lois sighed. "Okay, I was sixteen and my dad got reassigned to Fort Knackney, Portland. I was bummed cause I had to leave Wes behind and so I skipped a lot of school. My grades fell so the General ordered me to take tutoring classes from his colleague's son."

"Enter Gordon Tait," Clark surmised.

She nodded. "He was sweet and bumbling and then on the night of his prom, he hired this cheesy white limo and-"

"You know what, Lois," Clark interjected hastily. "I get the picture; you don't have to go on."

Lois bit back a smile as she stared at him. "Clark Kent, are you...jealous?"

He scowled at her. "What?! No! Of a sixteen year old nerd in bifocals?"

She giggled, unable to keep it in. "You are too. You're jealous...of Gordon Tait."

"I am not. I just think...well I think you deserved better."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Who would be better Clark? Please, I'm dying to know, seriously. Cause maybe if you can point him this way, I can cut a break in the love department."

"Lois, I didn't mean it like that."

She straightened, suddenly very sober. "You know what, Smallville? Not everyone's you and Lana, okay? We aren't all destined to be players in some epic love story. Some of us are just trying to-" The rest of her words were muffled as Clark's mouth descended upon hers.

He had no idea how it happened. All he remembered was watching her mouth move as she ranted, not really listening to what she was saying. And then he was kissing her-all lips and tongue and breath. And the best part about it, he thought as his hand moved up and tangled in her hair, was that Lois Lane was kissing him back.

-------------------------------------------------

**a/n:** Yay? Nay? Leave a review and stroke my fragile writer's ego :)


	7. Before Sunrise

**A/N: **

Greetings all! Firstly…I want to apologize for the looong wait. My laptop crashed last week, taking with it all that I had written (my advice to all: never underestimate the power of backing up). Very traumatic as you can imagine. Secondly, let me say THANK YOU!!! Your reviews as always have been amazing, and honestly, the only thing that kept me writing when I felt like giving up, so keep 'em coming.

Though not as long as the previous chapter, I hope this one satisfies :D

* * *

**Chapter 7: Before Sunrise  
**

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 7:01**

He stood on the tip of the rotating globe, looking down on the waking city below. Clark crossed his arms over his chest and angled his head, listening for the sounds of human destruction which so frequently pervaded his mind. Surprisingly, he found himself faced with one of those rare moments when the world seemed quiet and all that filled his head was the steady and ever comforting sound of his wife's heartbeat-his touch stone. It was as if the world had decided to give him the day off. As the first rays of sunlight crept up to Metropolis's skyline and filtered through his veins, Clark felt his body strengthen. He closed his eyes and lifted his face up to the sun, feeling his cloak billow out behind him. To the casual observer, he resembled a god, a blue and red guardian angel, keeping watch from his place in the clouds.

"Don't you ever get tired of posing for pictures?" A voice, smooth as silk and hard as granite cut through his thoughts.

Clark's lips twitched in a smile. "This from People's 'Sexiest Man Alive'?"

"Only in the corporate section." Bruce adjusted the clip on his belt, allowing himself to crouch securely on the precarious rooftop. Clark looked down at him. Clad head to toe in black and grey, Batman made a strange figure on the top of the Daily Planet's iconic globe. He stuck out in the vibrant city like a stain on a pink shirt. Clark knew he missed the darkness of Gotham. Bruce was never completely comfortable in the transparency of sunlight.

"How's Lois?"

"Finally sleeping." Clark was silent for a minute then confessed, "I may have slipped two of Chloe's sleeping pills in her coffee."

"You drugged your wife to get her to bed?" Bruce shook his head, almost amused. "And they say romance is dead."

"She's really grateful for what you did. Checking on Cira I mean."

"And I've got the bruise to prove it." He rubbed his hand over his swollen jaw.

Clark gently floated up and over to where Bruce was crouched. "I'm serious. You did a good thing."

"Does this mean I get a gold star?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, thye're in my other pair of tights."

He swore Bruce's face hovered on a smile for a moment before being replaced by those ever present shadows.

"Are you by any chance going up to see Vartel before we commence the meeting?"

"I might," he answered casually.

"Don't do anything stupid." Bruce stood up next to Clark-Superman and Batman at the top of the world.

"Why would I do anything stupid?"

He stared ahead of him, watching the city wake up. "Because in the seven years that I've known you, I've realised that you're inclined to think with your heart, not you're head."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Clark bristled.

"There is when your heart makes you too trusting."

Clark frowned. "You think I'm too gullible, right? The trusting boy scout?"

Bruce shook his head, "I think that your faith in humanity is a much more dangerous weakness that Kryptonite could ever be."

They were silent for a moment before Bruce continued, "But it's also your greatest strength." Another man would have taken it as a compliment, but coming from Bruce, Clark knew it to be just plain fact.

"I lost that faith," Clark started. "A couple of years ago, I turned my back on it all." He sighed, remembering the utter desolation he had felt in the wake of the Doomsday attacks, remembering how close he had come to losing everyone whom he cared about. "I just walked away."

"What brought you back?"

"Lois," Clark said simply. "She made me believe that humanity was worth fighting for." Suddenly they tensed as down below a man rushed into a woman, causing the contents of her bag to spill out. It was a standard mugging. Bruce had seen it countless times in Gotham's dark alleys. As the man reached for her purse, Bruce bent low, ready to jump. But Clark gripped his shoulder, holding him back. The supposed mugger scooped up the gazillion little items that littered the sidewalk and helped get them back into the bag. From his vantage point, Clark could hear her grateful thanks. Hesitantly and perhaps with slight consternation, Bruce straightened, "Maybe Lois was right," he said quietly.

Clark smiled, "She usually is."

"Is this the part where you tell me to think a little less with my head and a little more with my heart?"

"Something like that."

Bruce grimaced, "How very Lifetime of you."

A chuckle escaped Clark's lips, "What would you know about the Lifetime channel, Bruce?"

The darker man's expression slipped into an unreadable mask. "Alfred likes to watch movies on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I catch the tail end."

Clark bit back a grin, "Look, I'm just saying...sometimes your heart will get you to places where your head won't go. For instance, you may have certain feelings about a soon-to-be mother who recently lost her husband. Your logic tells you she's not ready, but your heart..."

Bruce shot Clark a stare that was enough to make even the Man of Steel stop in his tracks. "Thank you, Clark, for that very subtle allusion."

Clark shrugged a shoulder. "Just think about it."

"I will if you promise to alert me before going in to see Vartel."

"You don't trust me?"

"No," Bruce answered. "Not when it comes to your daughter's aggressor. I know the lengths a father would go for his child," he added quietly.

"Alright," Clark acquiesced. "You'll know."

The Batman turned his gaze to Superman, stone grey eyes accessing ocean blue ones. "You're not so bad, Kent. For a boy scout anyway."

Clark shook his head, "You know what, Bruce..." he angled his head slightly, "I think I hear Lois waking up."

Bruce waved his hand in the direction of the clouds, "Far be it from me to keep the Lady waiting."

Clark nodded once in acknowledgment then flew off in the direction of his home, leaving the Bat alone in the early morning light.

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 7:30**

Lois' eyelids fluttered open as a golden beam of early morning sunlight washed over her face. She blinked against it and moaned loudly hoping someone would get the hint and shut it off. When this failed to occur, she rolled over in a huff and pulled the covers up over her head. This succeeded in drowning out the light but did nothing to silence the marching band tramping around her head. Sticking out arm out, she reached for her alarm clock. That was when she heard it: the low moo of a cow. Lois bolted up straight, then immediately regretted it when the marching band turned into a full blown orchestra complete with cymbals and bongo drums. She pushed her fingers against her poor throbbing temples and squinted against the light. She was on the couch in the Kent's living room, covered by a familiar blue blanket and still dressed in last night's jeans and top.

Memories of the night before came flooding back and Lois wondered how long she could stay under the blanket before a caffeine craving drove out of hiding. The rumble of her stomach answered that promptly. Lois looked around the room. Her clothes were neatly folded over a chair, her shoes placed beside them. Her gaze shifted to the coffee table in front of her. Next to a tall glass of water was a piece of folded paper.

She reached out and unfolded it:

_We're outside. Join us when the bells stop ringing _

She stared at that stupid little smiley face forever, feeling a dozen emotions wash over her. To her utter mortification; her eyes began to tear. Lois fiercely wiped them with heel of her hand. Stupid hormones, she thought, putting the note back where she found it. She craned her head to see into the kitchen. As far as she could tell, the house was empty. She was about to make a dash for the shower when her cell phone rang. Finding her bag meticulously placed next to her shoes, Lois dug out her phone and answered it, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Lois! It's me. I didn't wake you did I?" Chloe's voice on the other end sounded punishably chirpy for 7:30 am.

Lois ambled back to the couch. "No. I was up...unbelievably. What's the what?"

"Well, I'm really just returning your call," Chloe admitted. "Jimmy and I went out last night and I forgot my phone in the restaurant, so this is my heartfelt apology and also curiosity. What was up yesterday? You sounded flustered."

_Oh, it was nothing. My and Clark's future love child decided to drop by and I wanted you to meet her. "_Oh, it was nothing," Lois started, "I just uh..." Where to begin?

"Well, I didn't forget about our plans today," Chloe said. "I've just got a couple of things to take care of and then I come bringing donuts. So I'll see you in two hours or so."

"Plans?"

"Come on, Lo, you didn't forget did you? You, me, trip to the Met Mall? We were gonna have the ultimate girly shopping experience."

"Oh, _those_ plans," Lois ventured a glance out of the window. She couldn't see anything but green fields and blue sky. "Looks like there's gonna be a change of."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not in Metropolis, Chloe. I'm at the Kent Farm." She could practically hear Chloe's mind working.

"What are you doing in Smallville so early?"

"I was here since last night," Lois confessed. "Things got kinda crazy."

"With Clark?" Chloe probed.

"Yeah..." she began then backtracked hastily, "No! I mean, not crazy with Clark." _Although_...her mind protested. "Just crazy in general, maybe you ought to come down. There's something you should see."

"Okay...now my curiosity's peaked. I'll see you in a few."

"See you then," Lois confirmed before tossing her phone onto the table then wincing at the bang it made. It would be so much simpler to just stay here, she thought preparing to sink back onto the couch, when something caught her eye. The half empty tequila bottle was conspicuously glaring at her from behind the couch. No doubt Clark had stashed it there when he decided it was cut off time. Lois almost smiled at the memory...almost.

She remembered kissing him. Feeling his lips part hers, his tongue seek entry. There was nothing tentative or timid about the kiss. It was as if their feelings were made of glass, teetering on an edge-and shattering with spectacular force when his lips met hers. She remembered moving her hands to his hair, his neck, his warm solid chest. She couldn't get enough. And when his lips trailed down her neck, brushing against her soft skin, she was pretty sure he felt the same way. She remembered edging towards him, staining to be as close as possible and the way he said her name like a fragile, desperate prayer when she accidentally laid her hand on his thigh. She remembered the feeling of his hands as they knotted in her hair and how she thought she would drown in him. And she remembered feeling, for the first time in her life, totally and utterly complete. It was as if every moment had built up to that one and she was finally home. She also remembered wryly wondering how a simple make-out session inspired her to think in poetry, but then his hand was on her lower back, urging her closer and she really didn't care, because this was Clark Kent. She was kissing Clark Kent and nothing in her life had ever felt more right. And that was when Lois pulled back.

He had looked at her with a confused, out-of-breath expression that had her wanting to lean back in and kiss his frown upside down, but instead, she extended a trembling hand and laid it against his chest, trying to keep a distance, yet found herself increasingly distracted by his racing heartbeat.

"Smallville, I think um," she cleared her throat, trying for form a coherent sentence while the blood pounding away in her ears made it difficult to concentrate on anything but the shape of his lips, the tiny frown line between his brows, the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed. Lois tried to shake those thoughts away. "I think we should call it a night," she said finally, hoping he didn't notice the tremor in her voice.

Clark had quickly tried to mask his hurt expression. "Oh, yeah. You're right." He edged away from her.

She sighed, feeling suddenly helpless, "It's just...it's been a long day and...well I just don't think that we're-"

"Lois, it's okay, you don't have to explain." He attempted a smile and echoed two words that seemed strangely familiar to her. "I understand."

She had been tempted to tell him he didn't understand. How could he when she was just starting to? How could he know how deeply and impossibly she'd fallen in love with him? How could he know how terrifying that was? So Lois had done what she did best-averted the situation with a smile and a snarky comment.

"Tell you what, Smallville. So as not to hurt your fragile feelings, I'll take the couch and you can have the bed. I'll even throw in a drooling dwarf absolutely free."

He had begun to speak, but then just nodded mutely, perhaps understanding that she needed space. She had told herself that she was wasn't disappointed when he didn't kiss her goodnight. She had told herself that she wasn't hoping for him to stay. She had told herself that she didn't miss him once he had gone up. And as her eyes welled up with tears, Lois had told herself that it was silly to cry over a stupid farm-boy who had very rudely tip-toed his way into heart.

Lois sat now, in the very same spot she had been in the night before, conflicted and torn. She needed to be strong; she needed to push all those mushy feelings aside and focus on the situation at hand. She needed to take her own advice and keep the game on the field. Getting confused and kissing cute copy slash farm boys was not an option, she told herself sternly. This kind of introspection, Lois realised, was usually reserved for the shower. So, humming along to the symphony in her head, Lois made her way up the stairs and into the bathroom, from which would not emerge for another two hours.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 7:05**

Lois rolled over and reached for her husband. When her arms came down on the empty mattress, she opened her eyes and squinted against the brightening room.

"Clark?"

"Morning." He was sitting at the foot of the bed, armed with a steaming coffee mug in one hand and the early edition of the Daily Planet in the other.

Lois smiled at the image of the domesticated Superman. "My husband, the hero." She sat up straight and was about to reach for the coffee when her expression changed. Seduced by the normalcy of their Sunday morning routine, the previous day's events had briefly been forgotten. Now, as it all came crashing back, her emotions threatened to betray her. Lois quickly slipped on her mask of complacency, but Clark had caught the previous expression.

"Lo," he said softly, moving closer to her, "It's alright, I'm here."

She took the coffee from him and sipped it. "I'm fine, Smallville. Don't get your tights in a twist."

Despite her objections, he shuffled next to her and brought his arm around her shoulders. "I know you are." They sat in silence for a while, each deep in thought. Finally, Lois spoke. "Are we going to get her back today?" She idly traced her fingers over the emblazoned 'S' on his chest.

He kissed her top of her head. "If all goes according to plan."

"What exactly is the plan?"

"To get Cira home, whatever it takes."

She frowned. "For a journalist, you're awfully vague on the details, Kent. You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

Clark shook his head. "Are you and Bruce presidents of the 'Stop Clark Kent from Doing Stupid Things' club?"

"I'm president, Bruce is just the treasurer." She looked up at him. "I'm serious, Clark. I don't want anything to happen to you. I couldn't bear it."

His eyes softened as he stared at her. Tenderly, he smoothed her hair back. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Lois. And I am going to get our daughter back. And we'll all be together soon. I promise."

She gave him a small smile that held so much trust and adoration, Clark wondered how he ever lived without loving her. She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the nose before jumping out of bed. He felt cold where she had been.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a quick shower," she called, turning on the taps in their en-suite.

"So I shouldn't expect to see you for the next five or so hours, huh?" He quipped, then ducked just in time to miss the sponge that came flying at him from the bathroom.

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 9:30**

Lois stood in front of Clark's closet, in a jeans and a bra, rifling through his shirts.

"Too plaid, too flannel, too blue..." Lois pulled out the shirt she'd been looking for. One which she'd worn on numerous occasions and had begun to think of as hers. "Just right."

As she began to button it up, something on the closet shelf caught her eye. As Lois reached for it, she assured herself that idly observing was not the same as snooping and she was most certainly doing the former. She stared at the black mobile phone in her hand. She recognised it as Clark's, yet the device attached to it was definitely foreign. Lois squinted at the label. "Voice Modifier. V2. Queen Tech." She frowned. What would Smallville be doing with a voice modifier from Oliver? Something clicked. Oliver. Green Arrow. A thought suddenly flitted through her mind. Lois chuckled softly, shooing the notion away. It was absurd. She carefully put the phone back where she found it and finished buttoning up her shirt. Absolutely absurd.

***

"Can we go again, Daddy? I wanna go real fast!" Cira leaned back against Clark and looked up at him, her eyes shining with excitement and pleasure. Clark laughed and patted the mare upon which they were sitting. The horse neighed lightly and trotted towards the fence. They had been riding around the farm since early that morning. Clark hadn't been able to sleep after certain events had transpired with a certain intrepid, intoxicated reporter, so when Cira had woken up and asked for the pony she'd been promised the day before, he decided to take her out for a ride. They were both sweaty and tired and giddy with exhilaration. He'd never guessed that spending time with a five-year old could be that tiring...and that much fun.

"I think Buttercup needs a bit of a rest after all that running." He dismounted and reached up for Cira. "How about we go inside and get an apple for her to say thank you?"

Cira wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yeah! And then another ride?"

He grinned. "I've got a better idea." He effortlessly swung her around so that she was on his back. Cira squealed in delight as Clark pranced towards the barn, doing his best imitation of Buttercup.

"Daddy, you're so funny," she said in fit of giggles when he began to make whinnying sounds around a pile of haystacks.

"Wow, Smallville. You were born to play that part."

Clark stopped in mid-prance. "Lois," he turned around with an embarrassed smile. "I see you managed to find my clothing...once again."

She shot him a playful smile. "Looks better on me anyway."

"Hope your head's not too bad after last night," Clark said in an attempt at small talk.

"I've had worse." Lois answered. "Hangovers, I mean, not nights. I'm not saying last night was great, but it wasn't all bad. I mean, some parts were even nice..." She was rambling. Lois bit her cheek and stared at Clark awkwardly. He stared back, as the previous night's event's played through both their minds.

"Are you gonna come riding with us, Mommy?" Cira's voice broke through the awkward tension. Saved by the smurfette, Lois thought with relief.

"Maybe another time, munchkin." She walked towards them, steering clear of Buttercup. She watched Clark swing the little girl high onto his shoulders, eliciting an elated shriek. His naturalism with her made him all the more endearing. Lois chastised herself. Finding Clark Kent endearing was not allowed.

"Are you scared of the horsies?" Cira asked, holding on to Clark's head.

"No," she responded, shooting a death stare at Clark who was grinning broadly. "I am not scared of the...horsies. I just don't think that anything with teeth that big should be mounted."

"Okay." Cira nodded and leaned towards Clark conspiratorially, "You should tell Mommy its okay to be scared," she whispered.

"Lois…" Clark began with a smirk. "Cira thinks I should tell you that it's okay to be scared." He had meant to sound teasing, but something about the statement was strangely apt. He looked at her suddenly, trying to convey the density of what he felt. For a second, she held his gaze, her hazel eyes filled with a desire that even she couldn't quite comprehend. As if pained, Lois pulled her eyes away from Clark's and turned her attention to the little girl.

"Heeey, Cira. How about some breakfast huh?"

Cira looked suddenly alarmed. "Is Daddy gonna make it? Cause last time when Daddy went away with Uncle Ollie you made pancakes but they tasted like play dough cause I ate play dough when I was little and that's what the pancakes tasted like. So I put lots of syrup on them. But Mommy it's okay if you wanna make pancakes cause I'll just put on lotsa syrup, so then they won't taste like play dough. "

Lois looked from Cira to Clark. "Wow, she's a rambler."

"I wonder who she gets it from," he replied. Lois pulled a face at him.

Taking Cira off his shoulders, Clark said. "Don't worry, Cira. I'm sure my mom-uh, Grandma Martha has lots of syrup. We can even skip the pancakes and just have syrup."

She looked at him with a giddy smile. "Really?!"

He shot Lois a smirk. "It might be safer that way."

"Okay, Smallville, you wanna play dirty?" She bent down so as to be eye level with Cira. "Cira, have you ever seen your _Daddy's_ Elmer Fudd nightlight?"

The little girl giggled. "ElmaFudd! That's a funny name."

Lois nodded. "Yeah, it is a pretty funny thing for an upcoming reporter at the Daily Planet to have in his closet. Hey!" she exclaimed as if the idea had just come to her. "I bet you'd like to see it huh? I wonder what would happen if Elmer Fudd landed up on your Daddy's work desk?"

"Lois…" Clark narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…wouldn't I? I guess we'll have to see who gets there first." She turned to run towards the house but made it less than two steps before Clark's arms around her waist inhibited any further movement.

She shrieked in laughter when he ran tickled her ribs. "Say you'll leave Elmer alone."

"No," she said, breathlessly, trying to escape his hold.

"Well, then I have no other choice, but to call for reinforcement. " He motioned for Cira to help out. She looked ready to pounce like a little lion cub.

"Not so fast, shortstuff." Lois hooked her leg behind Clark's, causing them both to fall into a heap of unswept hay. Seeing her opportunity, Cira jumped between them. Clark and Lois stared at each other in an unspoken agreement before reaching down and tickling the little girl, until her giggles mixed with their laughter filled the barn.

"Knock knock." Lois and Clark bolted up as a new voice entered the barn.

Chloe stood above them, her face a picture of bewildered amusement. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she continued, examining the odd scene before her, struggling not to laugh at Clark and Lois' shared expressions of embarrassment and discomfort as if being caught in the making out in the back seat by an overprotective father. What Chloe found most bewildering however, was the sight of the little girl, wedged between them, covered in hay and grinning like a loon.

"Hi Aunt Chloe!" she said brightly.

* * *

A/N: to make up for the long wait, expect the chapter 8 within a week :)


	8. Nothing But The Truth

**A/N: **Chapter 8 as promised :)

Now for the customary THANK YOU's! To each and every one who reviewed last chapter and the one before that and the one before that...know that you are greatly appreciated by moi. Lifesend, your review definitely did not scare me away :) I love hearing from you guys, good or bad, so without further ado, I bring to you...

* * *

**Chapter 8: Nothing but the Truth**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009**** – ****9:50**

Chloe's eyes widened as she stared at the little girl. "Uh, hi?" She looked from Lois to Clark expectantly, waiting for some sort of explanation. "Who, uh, who's this and why's she here?" she asked through a strained smile.

Clark cleared his throat and stood up with Cira, placing her on his hip in a move which he'd now pretty much perfected. "Chloe, this is Cira," he began. Chloe's eyebrows raised, but she chose not to comment on the fact the little girl was currently attached to her best friend's hip. "Oookay. That explains the who but not the why."

Clark looked at Cira who looked back at him with helpless shrug. "She's our-"

"Housekeeper!" Lois shouted out from the floor. Chloe stared down at her with disbelief.

"She's your housekeeper?"

"Our housekeeper's...daughter's...niece," Lois stumbled.

Chloe stared at them as if they'd both lost their minds. "Since when do you have a housekeeper?"

Clark looked at Lois with an expression that seemed to say 'nice one, genius...'

Attempting a smile, Clark put Cira down and crouched next to her. "You know what? I think Buttercup could use that apple. Why don't you run to the kitchen and get her one?"

"Can we play some more after?"

"Sure," Clark said, ruffling her curls. "But first we're gonna spend some time with Chloe okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," she said before running off towards the house.

Lois turned to Clark. "You think she'll be okay on her own?"

"Yeah, she knows her way around. Apparently we come here often."

"Of course," Lois nodded.

"She's been asking about 'Grandma Martha' through. I guess by the time she's born, my mom's back at the farm."

"That would make sense," she said. "Considering it's in like four years from now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chloe held her hands up, motioning for them to slow down. "Aunt Chloe?! Daddy?! Grandma Martha?! Either your uh... housekeeper's daughter's niece is seriously lacking in family figures or there's something you guys aren't telling me. Maybe something you should have told me about five years ago?"

Lois and Clark exchanged a glance. "Chloe, it's not what you think," Clark began.

"I don't really know what to think," Chloe confessed. "But somehow I'm guessing that she's not the housekeeper's kid."

"No," Lois admitted. "She's not."

"And her striking resemblance to little Lois makes me inclined to suspect that-"

"Wait," Lois held up a hand. "You picked that up immediately?"

"Well, yeah," Chloe stated as if it were obvious. "Lo, we spent a dozen school vacations together; I remember what you looked like as a kid."

"Huh," Lois exclaimed curiously.

"Look, Chloe," Clark spoke up, "We can't exactly explain-"

"How you managed to keep this from me for all these years?" She looked at Clark, truly hurt. "Yeah, kudos to both of you. As far as cover-ups go, this is right up there with Roswell and the Loch Ness Monster."

"Slow down, Sally," Lois arched an eyebrow. "You think that Smallville and I..." She looked awkwardly at the man standing next to her. "That we..."

"Had one magical night when you first came to town and decided to hide the evidence."

Both Clark and Lois burst into nervous laughter. "Chloe, I assure you, Clark and I have never..."

"Right," Clark echoed. "We've never..." They glanced at each other for a second then looked away quickly.

Chloe looked from Lois to Clark, accessing them with narrowed eyes. "You're telling the truth."

"Of course we are," Lois said. "Chlo, I killed my potted plant last year, you really think I'd be able to take care of a five-year old?"

"So, she's not your daughter." Chloe stated, relief flashing through her features.

"Welll....." Lois started, "Therein lies the rub."

"Rub? What rub?" Chloe eyed them suspiciously. "Who's rubbing? You guys just said that you're not her parents."

"Well, not yet at least." Lois looked to Clark for help.

"Chloe," he sighed. "Cira is our daughter...from the future."

Chloe looked to her cousin for confirmation. Lois nodded slowly. "Well," Chloe said, completely baffled, "That was...unexpected."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018**** – ****9:50**

"It's not unexpected, I promise you."

Chloe looked at Lois sceptically. "You're saying not being able to see my own toes is _normal_?"

Lois shrugged. "Fraid so, cuz. When I was pregnant with Cira, I had to get Clark to put my shoes on for me every morning. I swear, after a while, I forgot what my feet looked like."

Chloe put her hand on her swollen belly and groaned. "This is all the nice stuff they leave out in the 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'."

"Look on the bright side," Lois said, scanning the freezer for ice-cream. "At least you're due to pop soon."

"Thanks, Lois," Chloe said with a laugh. "You make it sound like everything I've ever dreamed of."

"Believe me," she said seriously, "When this little guy makes his appearance, it will be."

Chloe's expression softened. "Seriously, thanks, Lo."

Lois shrugged, "That's what godmothers to-be are for. So..." she smiled in triumph when she found her emergency tub of Rocky Road buried in the far back under the frozen peas. "Have you though of a name for the munchkin?"

"I've been thinking," Chloe said, taking a sip of her herbal tea. "Jimmy, he always liked the name Marlowe. You know, after Bogart's character in the 'Big Sleep'?" She shook her head, remembering. "He was crazy about that film...I don't know, I've been thinking about it lately..." Chloe trailed off.

"Hey, at least he didn't want to call the kid Humphrey. Now there's a recipe for being picked on if I ever heard one." Lois bit her lip as she thought about it. "Marlowe Sullivan-Olsen. I like it." She plunged a spoon into the tub and took a humongous bite.

"Are you sure ice-cream this early in the morning is a good idea?" Clark asked, stepping into the kitchen.

"Smallville, ice-cream is always a good idea," she replied, waving the spoon about. "Besides," Lois continued. "We're celebrating."

Clark opened the fridge and retrieved a jug of milk. "Celebrating what?" He paused for a moment, staring at Cira's pack of Winnie-the-Pooh juice boxes before closing the door a little harder than he'd meant to.

"Marlowe Sullivan-Olsen," Lois said with a full mouth.

"You settled on a name?" Clark turned to Chloe.

She gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Marlowe," Clark echoed. "Jimmy would have loved it."

They were quiet for a moment; the weight of their loss was still palpable. "Guys," Chloe said at last, "it's okay. Jimmy may be gone, but...he's with me, everyday. I know it sounds cheesy, but I know Jimmy's still looking out for me. I feel it."

"Chloe, I promise. Jimmy's son will grow up knowing what a good man his father was. We'll all make sure of that."

Chloe smiled at Clark. "I know. And I couldn't have asked for better godparents. Or a better example. Cira's lucky to have you guys."

Lois swallowed hard. "Nah, we're the lucky ones."

Clark moved behind his wife and squeezed her hand under the table. "I'll remind you of that the next time she loses Bernie and refuses to get into the car without him," Clark said, trying to chase away the tears in Lois' eyes. "Or when she decides that she won't sleep until you read 'Where the Wild Things Are' two more times."

Chloe laughed. "Boy that must have been fun."

Lois shook her head. "Let's just say that when it comes to stubbornness, my daughter could win medals."

"An exclusive Lane trait no doubt," Clark said teasingly.

Chloe chuckled when Lois pulled a face at her husband. "Sorry, Lo, I'm inclined to agree with Superman."

All three of them glanced backwards as the front door swung open. "Ollie!" Lois, exclaimed as the handsome man in green entered their apartment. "Who's more stubborn? Me or Clark?"

Oliver let out a quick laugh before he saw Lois' face. "Oh, you're serious?"

She threw her hands up in despair. "I swear it's a conspiracy."

"Oooh! I love a conspiracy," Bart added, coming in after Oliver. "Ice-cream! Sweet! Clark, make yourself useful and get me a bowl."

Lois raised her eyebrows. "Think again, road-runner. No-one comes between me and Rocky."

Bart pulled up a chair next to Chloe and smiled winningly. "Ladies, have I told you how breathtakingly magnificent you two look this morning? You Miss Lane, I find particularly-"

"It won't work," Ollie interrupted as he stepped onto the balcony and lit a cigarette. "Lois and ice-cream are like-"

"Jelly doughnuts!" Zatanna announced, shuffling through the door with a box full of pastries.

"Ooh, custard cream," Chloe reached for the box and eagerly bit into the pastry, earning amused looks from those around her. "I blame the hormones," mumbled with a full mouth.

"Hey Clark," Oliver called from the terrace. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Clark lifted his wife's hand to his lips for a quick kiss then made his way over to Green Arrow.

"So, how's Jimmy Jnr.?" Zatanna asked, placing her hand over Chloe's belly.

"Kicking like a ninja," Chloe replied, taking another bite out of her doughnut.

Before Lois could protest, Zatanna pulled a spoon out of the dishwasher and reached for the ice-cream tub. Lois rolled her eyes and pushed it in Zatanna's direction. "Why do I even bother?"

"Hey Supes, you mind if I catch the end of my show?" Not waiting for an answer, Bart plonked himself down on the couch and began to flip through channels.

"Oliver Queen!" Lois called from the kitchen. "Make sure that the wind isn't blowing into the house. I do not want my living room smelling like smoke!"

"Who's smoking?" Dinah asked, coming through the front door. Oliver jumped in fright and immediately stubbed out the cigarette and threw it over the terrace.

"There's my pretty bird," he called, stepping back into the house. Dinah rolled her eyes and lightly slapped his cheek when he leaned in to kiss her.

"You smell like an ashtray."

"But you love me anyway," she fought a giggle when he rubbed his stubbled cheek against hers. She eventually pushed him away and made her way over to the kitchen.

"How are you doing?" Dinah asked Lois as she selected a pasty out of the box.

Lois attempted a smile. "Some minutes are harder than others."

Zatanna's hand came down on Lois' shoulder with a comforting squeeze. "As soon as the rest arrive, we'll start. J'onn and Hal were called away this morning but Bruce should be here soon...and did I hear Kara say she was coming?"

Dinah shook her head. "Uh-huh. She wanted to be here, but Diana needed her help on Themyscira. Apparently that Hades dude has threatened some sacred temple or something."

"Speaking of the devil," Zatanna started..."You guys will never guess who I saw at Bruce's charity event last week..." Her voice filtered into the rest of the conversations taking place in the apartment.

From his place on the balcony, Clark watched his friends make themselves at home in his home. He watched Bart flip through channels on TV, finally settling on ancient reruns of Baywatch. He watched Lois excuse herself from the conversation in which Zatanna was discussing some billionaire's mistress who was once a famous jewellery thief. He watched Oliver install the projector in their living room all the while chewing on gum and wishing it was a Marlboro.

He watched this all with the realisation that this right here was his family. A family of tights-wearing, world-saving, super-powered freaks, but his family nonetheless. And they were here, despite the wars and earthquakes and the dozen other reason to go flying off. They were here in this moment, for him.

Clark considered what Oliver had told him just moments earlier. Suddenly it felt as if his path was clear, as if he had no other choice but that which he considered the right one. The only problem was that the right choice involved making some bad ones.

Suddenly a sound caught his attention. As he focused his ability, the sound became clearer. Turning, Clark made his way off the balcony and into the crowded living room.

"Hey Clark, everything okay?"

"Not now, Oliver," he replied, walking straight past his friend.

He found her in Cira's room. In the middle of the fluffy pink carpet, Lois was sobbing. In one fluid motion, Clark bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest. In any other situation, with any other person, Lois would have pushed away, wiped her eyes and made some attempt at self-deprecating humour, but as Clark lowered himself on the edge of Cira's little bed and held her close, Lois buried her face in his broad, safe chest and wept. Clark brought his lips close to her ear and whispered soft words of comfort.

"It's okay," he said, stoking her hair gently. "It's gonna be fine. I'll make sure of it."

Lois' sobs gradually quietened into sniffles. She eventually pulled back just enough to look up at Clark.

"Sorry," she murmured, brushing her hand over the tear-stained centre of his costume.

"You okay?" he brushed wetness off her cheeks.

She nodded slowly, "I think I'm dehydrated, but I'll live." She sat up on his lap, so that their noses were practically touching. "I look a mess huh?"

He nuzzled his nose against hers, "A beautiful mess."

"You know I hate this don't you?" she asked, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve.

"Hate what?"

"Being all weepy and damsel-in-distressy." She sniffed again. "It's embarrassing."

Clark sighed, trying to articulate the depth of his emotions. "Lo, you are anything but damsel-in-distressy." He shot her a side grin, "You're my wild cherry, remember?"

Lois rewarded him with a watery smile. "And don't you forget it...Smallville." As he leaned in to kiss her, he spied the scruffy stuffed animal in her hand.

"What's Bernie doing here?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "Blame him for the water works. Saw him lying on her bed and suddenly all I could think about was how much she's missing him and how much we're missing her and well, the rest is history."

"History," Clark repeated softly.

Lois frowned. "What of it?"

He stared at her, his eyes suddenly ablaze with intensity. "Lois, do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," she said without hesitation. "Clark, what is this about?"

"There's something I have to do. When Bruce gets here, start the meeting without me."

"But-"

He kissed her lips quickly and lifted her off his lap. "Trust me, Lois."

"Smallv-" But the rest of the word was lost in the whoosh of wind as blur of red and blue blazed out of sight.

**Sunday, November 13, 2009**** – ****10:00**

Chloe sat in the kitchen with a mug of cold, untouched coffee in her hands, staring in awe at her two best friends. "So did you get a good look at this guy?"

"Lois said he was wearing a costume. Like a…bunny?" Clark looked to Lois for confirmation. "Could have been a raccoon," she said. "And he had this weird emblem on his chest...I didn't really get a good look. Either way, he was creepy. And he kept asking about her, about Cira."

Clark dropped a spoonful of batter into the pan and watched it bubble.

"We're guessing that he was the magic man Cira was talking about. The one who sent her here. What we don't understand is why."

Chloe nodded. "So what happened after you guys came here?"

"W-what do you mean what happened?" Lois nervously avoided looking at Clark. "Nothing happened. Why...why would you ask that?"

Chloe looked at Lois with a perplexed expression. "I was just wondering if anything weird happened after."

"Weird?" She looked at Clark. "Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Clark, your pancakes are burning," Chloe noted, and looked curiously from Clark to Lois when she noticed their shared glances. "Okay, why do I suddenly feel like a wobbly third wheel?"

Clark turned his attention back to the pan. "Don't be ridiculous, Chloe. Lois and I are just-"

"Freaked out. Yeah, I can imagine." She took a sip of her forgotten coffee, and then grimaced at its coldness. "So, uh, you're sure that she's legit? I mean even for Smallville, this is pretty out there."

"The things she knew were...scarily accurate," Lois replied. "Some of it was just plain scary."

Chloe leaned forward, intrigued. "Like what?"

"Well, Smallville and I being married for starters. Hey!" Lois yelped when a splatter of pancake mixture hit her nose.

Clark innocently raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry Lois, did you say something?"

She reached for the spatula and raised it in warning.

"It's so weird," Chloe muttered. "You guys have like, the inside scoop on your destinies. You could find out anything you wanted."

"I don't if that's a good thing," Lois said softly. "I mean, there's a reason we can't see into the future, right? It takes away our choices, not to mention leaving a bunch of room for disappointment."

Clark looked hurt for a second but quickly shook it away. "Lois is right," he said. "Time travel is dangerous and unpredictable."

Lois snorted. "Like you've experienced this before Quantum Leap? Don't tell me you've got a time machine stored in that barn of yours."

Clark and Chloe exchanged a panicked glance. "What?!" He scoffed. "Lois, I think you've been watching too many Star Trek reruns."

"I'm just saying," she continued. Stealing a pancake off the top of the stack, she stuffed a piece in her mouth, "We're in completely new territory here."

"Mommee!!" Cira bounded into the kitchen, a bundle of zippy energy. "I can't find Bernie! He's just nowhere!"

"Slow down there, tiger," Lois lifted Cira up and onto the table.

Chloe looked at Clark and mouthed, "Who's Bernie?" He shrugged, as confused as she was.

"Who's Bernie?" Lois asked Cira who regarded her with a confused frown. "Bernie's my bear, Mommy. It's Bernie!" she said again, as if repeating the name would get them to understand the magnitude of his existence.

"We'll uh, we'll look for Bernie after breakfast," Clark started.

"No!" Cira cried with a trembling lip. "I want Bernie now. I want him now, now NOW!

"Wow," Chloe said under her breath, "Looks aren't the only thing she inherited from Lois."

"Cira, how about some yummy pancakes, huh?" Clark motioned towards the plate of syrupy pancakes. "And I made them, so you don't have to worry about them tasting like play dough."

Cira shook her head, her eyes welling up. "I want Bernie. I want my Bernie."

Clark looked hopelessly at Lois and Chloe. "You know what, Cira," Chloe began, "I think I saw Bernie. He was uh..."

"He was playing hide-and-seek." Lois finished for her. "Yeah. Bernie was playing a mean game of hide-and-seek with...Shelby."

Cira sniffled. "Dogs can't play hide 'n go seek."

Lois scoffed, "Course they can. They can play a bunch of games. They're not so good at backgammon though. Paws," she said, by way of explanation. "So you see, if you go looking for Bernie now, you just gonna spoil his hiding place, and you don't wanna do that do you?"

"No," Cira said softly.

Lois smiled at her and playfully tapped her nose. "Okay, so we're gonna eat these yummy pancakes and then maybe, if Bernie wants to be found, we'll look for him. Deal?" She stuck her hand out.

Cira nodded and gripped Lois' hand with her smaller one. "You got a deal, Mommy."

"Great," Lois smiled victoriously and proceeded to organise a plate for Cira. Once the little girl was happily seated in the living room in front of the TV, Lois returned to find Clark and Chloe staring at her with identical expressions of awe.

"What?" she asked, oblivious as she began to drown her breakfast in syrup.

"Wow. Lois, you're great with her." Chloe said, genuinely surprised.

Lois looked at them, suddenly self-conscious. "Well I do have _some _experience with snivelling kids. Lucy wasn't exactly a walk in the park growing up."

Clark cleared his throat. "No, Chloe's right, Lois. You're amazing."

Both Lois and Chloe stared at him like he'd just grown a second head.

"With Cira," he amended quickly. "I meant you're amazing with Cira. You know, considering your social skills generally resemble that of an annoyed rhinoceros."

Lois shot him a fake, cheesy smile, and held her hand over her heart. "Oh stop, Clark, you're making me blush."

Chloe chuckled. "Wow, it's really hard to imagine you two ever being capable of producing that." She gestured to where Cira was wolfing down her pancakes in front of a morning cartoon.

Both Clark and Lois looked down, uncomfortably.

"So," Chloe continued, "Any ideas about how to get Mini McFly back to her own time?"

"Unless Smallville's lying about that time machine, I don't see know how we can get her back to where she came from without figuring out how she got here in the first place."

"Well I'm guessing she didn't click her heels twice and wish for home. There's got to be..." Chloe snapped her fingers as the idea hit her, "Wait a minute...home...we should start at the place where she was taken. It could give us a clue about how to get her back there.

"You mean the last place she remembers being before Lois' apartment?" Clark asked.

"Sounds good," Lois said, "Except for the fact that she's from 2018. How do we even know that wherever she comes from exists yet?"

Chloe walked over to her bag and extracted her trusty laptop. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018**** – ****10:22**

Bruce pushed the button for the elevator as he stood in the secret basement entrance he had designed after Clark and Lois had moved into Sullivan Lane. It was a glorified parking area which led into tunnels, accessible through various parts of the city. Loosely based on the very first designs for the Bat Cave, the secret passageways below the penthouse apartment served as the perfect way for the costumed super-heroes to travel to and from Clark's apartment without being recognised. Though rarely used since they hardly conducted any official business outside of the Watchtower, it had come in handy on numerous occasions when Batman needed a place to park the Bat-mobile when in Metropolis. Now, as he waited for the elevator to reach this hidden place, Bruce thought about what Clark had suggested earlier. "A little less head and a little more heart." If the heart was a muscle, then Bruce thought he's had long become dysfunctional due to lack of use. As the elevator announced its arrival with a ding, he pulled off his mask and self-consciously ran his hand through his hair before stepping inside the carriage.

Lois opened the door when he knocked. She looked puffy-eyed and tired and was still one of the most beautiful women he'd ever met. How the bumbling boy-scout had managed to marry the dazzling reporter still baffled him.

"Lois, you're looking beautiful as ever."

She smiled at him doubtfully, "Bet you say that to all the girls."

He shook his head. "Only the ones who attack me with loofah sponges."

Lois reached up and ran her fingers over his bruise. "Yeah, sorry about that."

He bristled slightly, unaccustomed to the mere tenderness of her touch. When women touched Bruce Wayne, it was about sex or power or something that they needed but he refused to give them. It was very rarely that someone touched him just out of compassion.

Suddenly uncomfortable, he eased away and looked around the apartment. "I suppose we're ready to begin. Where's your husband?"

"He had to run off for a minute," she said vaguely. "Apparently heroes don't get off days."

Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Did he say where he was off to?"

"Oh you know, just around. He said to start without him."

He was about to speak when Chloe's voice permeated through the various conversations happening in the apartment.

"Bruce, there you are."

He turned to the petite blonde and was confronted with familiar feelings of protectiveness and anxiety. The latter mostly due to the former. "Chloe, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Pregnant," she said with a wry grin. "Anyway, I was thinking about you earlier."

Bruce felt that almost forgotten muscle begin to come alive. "Really?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about the fact that we know so little about this Vartel guy. So, maybe with your sleuth skills and my computer savvy, we could get some dirt. Barbra and I have been working on a program which allows us to hack into code 7 government files. It could come in handy."

Bruce nodded, viciously fighting back any sort of disappointment that welled up inside of him. "It seems I've pre-empted you. I spent the morning gathering information on Thomas Vartel. You're right, there isn't much available, which in itself is suspicious. Perhaps your hacking abilities will be useful. It seems in the last few years, Vartel has been aligned with a project _Icarus_."

"_Project Icarus_." Chloe frowned. "I've never heard of it."

"Until this morning, neither have I. The name comes up with Vartel's in a number of documents but I've yet to find out what it is or who's running it."

"Okay," she gestured towards her laptop on the table. "Let's get to it."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009**** – ****10:50**

"1938 Sullivan Lane, Metropolis." Cira stated this proudly.

"Hey, that's kind of neat," Chloe said, her fingers whirring over the keyboard. "Our last names, Lo."

Lois leaned over the back of the couch to get a better look at what Chloe was typing. "You think it's a coincidence?"

Chloe shrugged. "I don't know." She glanced at Cira who was sitting with Clark on the opposite couch. "What has she said about me anyway?"

Lois and Clark looked at each other for a second. "Nothing," they said in unison, neither wanting to impart the knowledge of future Chloe's pregnancy to their Chloe.

"Well okay," Chloe said in mild disbelief. "Damn," she said softly, frowning at the screen.

"What is it?" Clark asked.

Lois leaned further down, reading over Chloe's shoulder. "No results. So it doesn't exist?"

"I guess not." She typed something into the search engine. "The only reference to a Sullivan Lane is some obscure construction planned for 2011 by a Wayne Enterprises. Ever heard of it?"

"Nope," Lois squinted at the picture on the screen. "But who's the eye candy?"

Chloe read the caption beneath the picture of the young man in a chalk grey suit. "Says his name's Bruce Wayne. He's the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, based in Gotham. It says here they've recently come under the spotlight as one of the leading corporate institutions to set up charity based outreach programs."

"Handsome and a hero." Lois sighed. "Maybe I should take Tess up on her threat to transfer me to the Gotham Gazette."

Clark sat straight up. "Lois, don't you think you're being a little hasty. I mean, you know nothing about this man. You can't just move to another city based on a whim. These things need consideration and-"

"Whoa, Smallville, don't get your tights in a twist. I was kidding." She smiled at him, "Besides, if I left the Planet, who'd circle your typos?"  
Clark shot her an annoyed face, hoping it masked his relief. Suddenly, he felt a sticky palm on his arm.

"Daddy, I'm itchy," Cira said, scratching her syrup stained cheek.

"I guess somebody needs a bath," Chloe said.

Lois raised her eyebrows when both Clark and Chloe turned to her. "What are you looking at me for?"

"Isn't this where you come in, _Mommy_?" Chloe asked with an amused expression.

"Oh, just wait until your kid from the future shows up on your doorstep. Then we'll see how funny it is."

"I could help if you want," Chloe offered.

"No need," Lois replied. "I think I have it covered." She walked over to Cira. "Ready to get cleaned up, Squirt?"

The little girl took Lois' hand and nodded. "Can I bath with the ducky? Grandma always lets me play with Quack-Quack. She said it was Daddy's."

Chloe laughed, "Quack-Quack?"

Clark looked uncomfortably at the three pairs of eyes staring at him. "Quack-Quack, uh the duck is in the bottom cabinet in the bathroom. It was mine...when I was a kid," he explained empathically.

Lois suppressed a grin. "Whatever you say...Clarkie."

Cira giggled at something Lois whispered to her as they ascended to stairs. Once they heard the water running in the bathroom, Chloe pushed her laptop aside and plopped herself next to Clark.

"So...does she have any powers?"

Clark focused his hearing for a second, making sure Lois was out of earshot. "She has x-ray vision and super hearing," Clark said finally. "And I think she may have heat vision."

"Wow," Chloe whispered. "So I guess she really is yours. And...Lois'," she added with slight disbelief.

"The idea takes some getting used to."

"Tell me about it. My best friend and my cousin. I guess we saw it coming. But this is so...final."

"I didn't," Clark admitted. "See it coming. I mean Lois is just so..."

"Lois." Chloe finished for him.

"Exactly. I guess I just never thought we'd ever-"

"Go from work partners to bed partners?"

Clark gave her an ironic look but conceded, "Exactly."

"So, you're disappointed?" she questioned. "You'd have preferred Cira's last name to be Lang-Kent?"

"No," he replied honestly. "I'm not disappointed. I thought I would be, but...Lana's my past."

"And apparently Lois is your future. My only question is what are you going to do about it?"

Clark frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, now that you know you're gonna end up with one Lois Lane, do you fulfil the prophesy or just let it happen, knowing that it's going to happen? And I guess the bigger question is...do you want it to happen?"

Suddenly there was a splash, followed by a shriek and a word that should definitely not have been said in front of Cira. "Chloe!" Lois' voice called from upstairs. "I need backup."

"I'll be right there," Chloe called back. She patted Clark's shoulder as she got up. "I guess you've got some thinking to do."

Clark sat in the same position for a long time after Chloe left. The sounds of laughter and splashing echoed though the farmhouse but all Clark could hear was Chloe's voice, echoing in his mind..._Lois is your future_...

He remembered kissing her, the way her skin felt beneath his lips, the way her body felt beneath his hands. He'd admittedly thought about it before...about what kissing Lois Lane would be like. About what kissing Lois Lane would be like without the excuse of red kryptonite or the disguise of green leather. He wondered about what kissing Lois would be like knowing that she was kissing him back. The night before, he'd gotten his answer. Clark had kissed a couple of girls before. Maybe fewer that the average 22-year old male, but he certainly wasn't a novice. Yet kissing Lois was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Kissing Lois was a revelation. She had made him _feel, _truly feel for the first time since Lana had left him a weak crumpled mess on the barn floor. Yet this wasn't simply a replacement feeling. After the night before, there was no way Clark could ever compare Lois with Lana. She was hot where Lana was cool, confident where Lana was timid and most importantly, trusting where Lana was doubtful. He had seen, or rather felt a side of Lois that he had always suspected to be there, yet was very rarely allowed to see. The side which allowed her to be completely vulnerable and open; the side that gave itself so fully and so generously that Clark feared he would drown in her. As Cira's giggles trickled down the stairs, followed by Lois' laugh, Clark realised that the scariest thing about kissing Lois was how right it felt. As if a missing piece of the puzzle that was his life had been slotted in. He understood suddenly that Cira's unexpected appearance wasn't so much a surprise as it was a confirmation. A confirmation of something which began all those years ago in a cornfield before he was Clark Kent, hero of the people and she was Lois Lane, intrepid reporter. Clark felt suddenly lighter, as if he'd allowed something inside of him to be set free. He wasn't ready for marriage and he certainly wasn't ready for kids, but, as he sat back and contemplated his life, Clark realised that maybe he was finally ready for Lois Lane.

* * *


	9. Hearts and Minds

**A/N: **

Hi all!

THanks again for the reviews, your support for this fic continues to overwhelm me. Just a little note: I took quite a big liberty in explaining Cira's name. If any Kryptonian Lingistics experts are offended, please know, it was all for the sake of good writing and a bit of fluff :)

So, here's chapter 9, I hope you enjoy it...

**Chapter 9: Hearts and Minds**

**Sunday, November 10, 2013 – 20:09**

Martha turned up the volume on the television as the news anchor predicted stormy weather for the central Kansas area. She made her way to the living room and smiled at the sight of her grownup son kneeling beside a very pregnant Lois, who was idly running her fingers through his hair as he read a chapter of his favourite book to his unborn child.

"_Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them..."_

Martha sighed, filled up with a strange feeling of pride and nostalgia, wishing Jonathan was with her to see the man his boy had become. She cleared her throat, hesitant to intrude on this intimate moment. "The tornado warning's on high. Looks like you two will have to stay the night."

Lois opened her eyes against the lull of Clark's voice which threatened to put her to sleep. It seemed all she did these days was eat, sleep and pee. She shifted clumsily on the couch in an effort to sit up. "You know Mrs K, that's not a bad idea. It can be like old times. Smallville, you can take the couch." Lois winked at Clark who scowled up at her. Even after almost two years of marriage Lois still found it hard to refer to Martha as anything other than 'Mrs Kent'.

Martha laughed at Clark's scowl. "That won't be necessary. I've been doing some remodelling lately. With all this time on my hands it seems I can't find enough to keep myself busy. Anyway, I've already set up the spare bedroom for you kids."

"Thanks Mom," Clark gave his mother a warm smile as he got up. "I should probably check on the horses before the storm hits." He kissed his mother's cheek before heading out. Martha sat down next to Lois sporting her son's infectious grin. "I haven't seen him this happy since he was six and his dad took him to his first baseball game."

Lois looked down at her huge baby bump."I'm guessing it has something to do with Clark Jr. here."

"Or Lois Jr."

"How can you be sure it's a girl?"

"Mother's intuition," Martha said.

"I could use some of that," Lois said softly, unconsciously rubbing her hand over her stomach.

"Lois," Martha took the younger woman's hand in hers. "You're going to be a wonderful mother. Just trust yourself. I've seen the way Clark looks at you. He's got all the faith in the world in you and so do I."

Lois blinked back tears and gave Martha a watery smile. "Thanks Mrs...Mom."

"You're welcome, Lois." Martha was about to lean in to hug her when Lois suddenly grimaced in pain.

"Oh, honey, did I hurt you?"

"No, it's just..." she moved her hand to the lower half of her belly. "The bug's found a new favourite kicking spot."

Martha placed her hand over Lois' stomach, "I can't wait to meet you, little one," she said softly.

"Might be sooner than you think," Lois muttered.

"Mom, the brownies are ready," Clark called from the kitchen.

"Clark Joseph Kent!" Martha yelled, making her way towards the smell of chocolatey goodness, "At least wait until they've cooled down."

Clark looked up innocently as Martha entered. "You've got chocolate on your mouth," she said amused.

"How come Lois gets three?" he asked when she loaded up a plate.

"Because Lois is eating for two. Now wash your hands and help me get these on a tray." No matter how grown up he was, Martha mused, he would always be her little boy. Moments like these proved it.

"I re-secured the locks on the barn," he said as he poured a glass of milk. "And fitted a new window pane at the back. The wind looks really fierce."

"I can hear," she commented as the rain beat hard against the windows, suggestive of the stormy night which would follow.

Suddenly Lois' voice echoed from the guest room. "Smallville!" The edge of panic in her tone immediately set Clark on high alert. He whooshed past his mother and into the guestroom where his wife was standing in the middle of a puddle with alarmed expression on her face.

"I, uh, I think it's time."

Clark looked from the floor to her face, panic creeping through his features. "Lois, are you sure?"

"Clark, my water just broke. " She exhaled a trembling breath, "I'm sure."

"Is everything...Oh my!" Martha exclaimed, coming into the room. "Lois, sweetheart, it's going to be alright. Just lie down." She moved quickly and helped Lois onto the bed.

Clark looked at his mother, "Mom, we need to get her to a hospital."

"Honey, the roads are flooded, there's no way-"

"Then I'll fly."

"No, way, hero," Lois said, grimacing as the pain of a contraction washed over her, "I am not having this kid in mid-flight."

Clark looked helplessly at Lois. "How could this happen so fast? All the books said there'd be signs. You know, early labour, active labour, transition phase..." he listed everything he remembered from the countless pregnancy manuals he'd read over the past eight months.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we're in the active phase right about now." She looked at Clark, apologetically. "I kinda suspected since this afternoon, but I wasn't sure and I know how you get all 'worry-faced' so...." She scrunched up her face as another contraction passed, "I'm sorry."

He knelt beside the bed and took her hand, "It's okay, Lo, we'll figure this out. We'll call for Doctor Bishop."

"Clark, I don't think there'll be time," Martha said. "These contractions are pretty near."

"Yeah, this is happening now," Lois said through heavy breathing.

"What, what should we-" Clark felt suddenly overwhelmed. He'd defeated the vilest of villains, encountered the most dangerous of disasters yet nothing he'd ever faced could have prepared him for this moment. Superman, Man of Steel was reduced to Clark Kent, father-to-be. He faced his mother with a look of sheer terror. "This wasn't in the manual."

"Okay," Martha began to place pillows under Lois' head and lower back. "We're gonna need warm water, clean towels. Clark, get the surgical scissors in the bathroom and a bottle of spirits."

"Yes please," Lois groaned from the bed.

"Surgical spirits," Martha clarified, propping her daughter-in-law up against the pillows.

Clark looked from Lois to his mother uncertainly. "Mom, I don't know-"

"Clark Kent," Martha said sternly, "You were raised on a farm. You've birthed dozens of horses and cows. Are you really going to stand there and tell me you're afraid of delivering your own child into the world?"

He shook his head like a scolded boy, "No,"

"Good," Martha replied getting a pile of towels out of the cupboard. "Now get me that water."

**32 minutes later...**

"I swear to God, Smallville, if you ever touch me again I will personally castrate yo...OW! SONOFABITCH!!" Lois screamed as pain ripped through her. "Sorry Mrs K," she apologised once the contraction had passed.

"That's okay, sweetheart," Martha said comfortingly, wiping her hair out of her face. "You curse all you like."

"I just want it to be over," she sniffled, feeling as if her body were being ripped apart from the inside.

"Almost there, Lo." Clark reached for her hand from the other side of the bed. "You're doing great." He brought it up to his lips and kissed it tenderly.

Her face softened as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry I called you a...OH DEAR GOD!! GET YOUR ALIEN CHILD OUT OF ME!!" Lois exhaled heavily, "Oh my god..." she suddenly grew pale, "What if this kid is like, super huge. It's never gonna come out!"

"Lois, we saw the ultrasound last month, remember. This baby is normal-sized. It's perfect."

"Clark," her voice was suddenly small and desperate, "I don't know if I can do this."

"Yes you can," Clark crouched down next to her. "The pain's gonna be over soon."

"How the hell would you know?" Lois asked wildly. "Have you ever pushed a living thing out of your-"

"Lois," Martha's voice cut through her pain. "Just focus, sweetheart. Just remember why you're here."

"To get this kid out?" she asked as if seeking confirmation.

"That's right," Martha answered, patiently. "Soon this baby will be all you can think of. Let's just get through the hard part."

Lois nodded. "Okay, okay. I can do this."

"You can do this." Clark repeated. "Remember, 'hoo-hoo, hee-hee, hoo-hoo, hee-hee'. He pursed his lips as he mimicked the breathing exercises they had learnt at the few lamaze classes Chloe had signed them up for.

Lois gritted her teeth. "Enough with the, 'hee-ing'...I need to push. NOW."

Clark stood up and placed his hand on her lower back. "It's almost time."

Martha stood at the foot of the bed, "Okay, Lois, you're fully dilated. Here we go...PUSH!"

Lois wondered for a second if it was possible for her entire body to split in two because that's exactly what pushing felt like. She felt her pubic bone shift position as her body prepared to make way for the baby.

"Again," Martha urged. "Push."

"You're doing great, Lois." Clark said, taking her hand.

Lois sighed, feeling deflated from the exertion. "It's too hard. I can't."

"Yes you can, Lo," Clark said, threading his fingers through hers. "You can do this. I'm right here. C'mon, we're almost there." He moved to take his mother's place. "I'm gonna need you to push again, Lo."

She strained and bit down hard, feeling every muscle in her body work towards this single act.

"I can see the head! The baby's crowning!" Clark said with breathless excitement. "This is it." He looked at his mother who was rubbing Lois' back. She nodded at him. "Come on, Mrs Lane-Kent," Clark said. "This is our kid here. Just one more push!"

Lois took a deep breath and bared her teeth as she willed herself to give one final push. It seemed her entire body was vibrating with strain before she felt a sudden release of pressure. And then it was over.

Lois looked up to see her husband holding the tiniest, most precious thing she'd ever laid eyes on. She watched as he cleared out the baby's nose and mouth, causing a loud, shrill cry to fill the room. When Clark's tear filled eyes met hers, Lois let out a sob.

"It's a girl," he said softly. "Lo, we've got a daughter!" Clark quickly cut the umbilical cord before holding the crying, bloody infant up for inspection. Ten fingers, ten toes, good, strong limbs and a tuft of wild black hair. He breathed an audible sigh of relief. She was perfect. Cradling the screaming infant as if she were as fragile as glass, he handed her over to Lois' outstretched arms. She immediately quietened as she came into contact with her mother's heartbeat, her lullaby for those past few months.

"She's perfect," Lois said in wonder as the little baby tentatively blinked her eyes and tried to focus on the array of bright new images. "Absolutely perfect."

Martha laughed as Clark picked her up in a bear hug. "I'm so proud of you," she said finally as he set her down. "Of both of you."

Lois tore her eyes away from her new daughter to look up. "Couldn't have done it without you, Grandma."

"Grandma," Martha echoed, suddenly choked up. "I guess I'll have to get used to that."

"Wait, what are you doing?" Lois asked as Martha reached for the baby.

"Just getting her cleaned up," Martha said. "Don't worry, Lois. She'll be looking for her mommy soon enough." Sure enough, the minute Martha laid the clean, freshly wrapped up infant back into Lois' arms; she latched onto her mother's breast and without any hesitation began to suck greedily.

Lois laughed. "Wow, Smallville, like father like daughter huh?"

Clark's eyes went wide as he blushed and cleared his throat uncomfortably. Lois glanced at Martha with an awkward expression, "I mean, uh...boy these drugs they give you sure are a doozy."

Martha shook her head with a smile as she cleared up the bloody towels. "How about I give you three some privacy? If the storm hasn't knocked out the telephone wires, I want to call Dr. Bishop and ask him to stop by in the morning."

"Thanks, mom," Clark said hoping this simple statement conveyed the depth of his love and admiration for the woman standing in front of him.

"You're welcome, honey." As she exited the room, Clark turned his attention back to his wife and baby who was currently gulping down milk with gusto. With infinite gentleness, he caressed the top of her head, feeling the soft, glossy black hair and pillowy centre of her cranium beneath. "She's so little," he whispered in awe.

"Yeah," Lois said softly, watching as her daughter stared up at her with curious blue eyes. "And beautiful."

"She takes after her mother," Clark got onto the bed beside them and put his arm around Lois who rested her tired head against his shoulder.

"What are we gonna call her?" she asked after a while.

"I was thinking," Clark began. "We could name her after your mom. Or, or maybe mine, my birth mother?"

"Uh-uh," Lois stroked her daughter's silky soft cheek. "She deserves something new. Something as special as she is."

Clark thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "There's a word in Kryptonian. _Cira. _Translated I guess it means 'happy accident' or 'pleasant surprise'. He rested his cheek on Lois' head. "All in all, she's been pretty good at surprising us."

Lois looked down at their daughter who was just beginning to drift off to sleep, snug and safe against her mother's breast. "Hey there, Cira," she whispered gently," Welcome to the world."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 10:30**

Clark leaned against the corridor wall of the Watchtower, remembering that event with such clarity that he could practically smell the blood in the air and taste the fear filled anticipation. It was the scariest and most wonderful night of his life. He'd never forget the first time Cira looked up at him or how it felt when her tiny wrinkled fingers curled around his thumb in a greeting. There were so many little moments he held on to that Clark found it nearly impossible to remember a time in his life that Cira wasn't a part of. Now all of that was tainted, sullied by the man behind the doors of the room he was about to enter. But this time, there was no anger or desire for hot vengeance, but rather a resolve, cool and granite hard. A resolve to save his child and the child of the man who had wronged him.

Taking one quick glance around to make sure no-one was watching, Clark entered the seven-digit code into the security key-pad and entered the Silent Space.

Vartel was exactly where they had left him. Bound, naked and immobilised in a tank filled with ParylacticBlu, a gas which effectively relaxed muscle control making movement nearly impossible. Without ceremony, Clark walked towards the tank, switched off the generator and easily hauled Vartel's limp body out of the gas. He immediately collapsed on the floor, but after a few seconds of oxygen exposure, his muscles returned to full strength, allowing him to stand up somewhat shakily. Saying nothing, Clark threw a faded old track suit at him and drew up a chair. Keeping his eyes suspiciously on his jailer, Tim Vartel dressed quickly and sat down opposite Clark.

"Come on, Clark, as well as you pull off the strong, silent act, you've obviously come here for a reason. Let's have it."

"You're right," Clark began. "I want you to tell me what happened. About what happened the day your son died."

"You mean the day he murdered?" Vartel's spat out the words as if they were poison. "I thought we had covered this before. Why the recap show?"

"If you want me to go back. If you want me to do things your way, then you'll go over it again," Clark said. "You'll go over it until I'm satisfied."

"My, my," Vartels' lip curled back in an ugly sneer. "Did your friend the Batman teach you to play so rough?"

Clark sat back and appraised him. "I'd tell you that we've got all the time in the world, but you and I both know how fickle a currency time can be.

Vartel sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Fine, you want the story; I'll give you all the bloody details, play by play."

"That's why I'm here."

**Sunday, November 10, 2009 – 11:00**

"Smallville, where'd you go?" Lois jogged down the stairs and scanned the living room. "Smallville?"

"Lois," Clark's voice came from the kitchen, causing her to jump in surprise. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"Please, I wasn't scared," she denied, "Just startled."

"You got wet."

"What?!" Lois' eyebrows shot up.

"Your shirt...or my shirt," Clark said gesturing to the large water stain on her front.

"Ohh," she breathed out a sigh. "Yeah, when I said she could splash around, I didn't think she'd literally...anyway, we've got a problem. She needs clothing. I don't suppose you have any kid sized flannels lying around do you? I mean, the thought of advocating plaid kills me, but we're desperate here, Smallville. Chloe's wrapped her up in a towel, but we can only play 'fuzzy red caterpillar' for so long. "

Clark smirked. "You seem to be okay with wearing my shirts." Lois would have cut off her tongue before admitting that she liked them because they smelled like him, so she scowled and walked past him.

"So, no secret closet full of Baby Gap items you were saving for your babies with Lana?" It was like a disease. The minute they were heading towards something good, she had to bring up the ex. Offence, Lane, she thought to herself, keep him on the Defence.

"No Baby Gap," Clark replied, looking at her strangely, "But I might have something else that would fit."

Lois followed him up the stairs into the hall. He retrieved an old stepladder from behind one of the room doors and proceeded to lift the hatch in the ceiling to the attic. "Come on," he said, reaching for her hand from the top step.

Lois eyed him sceptically, "I hate to break it to you, Clark, but the road to Narnia's through a wardrobe not a ceiling hatch."

He extended his hand further. "Would you just come up?"

Cautiously, she put her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled up into the attic. As expected, it was dark and musty and smelled like her late grandmother's sewing room.

"Nope, this is definitely not Narnia."

Clark flipped on a light switch which buzzed for a few seconds before shedding light on the room and its contents. The attic held the usual stuff: boxes, broken lamps, a couple of piles of magazines from when Martha was younger. Clark made his way to the large wooden chest in one cobwebbed corner.

"Come on, Lois," Clark called, "Nothing in here's gonna bite you."

She eyed a rather large spider hanging from one of the webs. "You sure about that?"

He blew dust off the top of the chest and opened it carefully. Lois moved closer to peek at its contents over his shoulder. In the chest were neatly folded piles of clothing. She blew out a disappointed breath. "That's it? You wanted to show me a pile of clothes?"

Clark lifted out a tiny pair of blue jeans. "They were mine," he said, wondering how he was ever that small. "My mom couldn't bear to give them away, so she stored them up here."

As he lifted out a tiny sweater that said, '_My Parents Survived a Meteor Shower and All I Got was Born_," Lois suppressed the urge to 'Awww'. "That's certainly not tacky," she said sarcastically.

"All the new parents got them the year of the shower," Clark explained. "Smallville advertising at its best."

Lois snorted when he pulled out an old Wolverines baseball cap, urging herself not to imagine how adorable he would have looked in it. She grabbed it from him and stretched it backwards over her head. "Very stylish," Clark remarked with a grin.

"Oh, you wanna talk stylish?" She reached into the trunk and pulled out a tiny pair of red underpants adorned with a yellow lightening bolt. "You must have been the talk of the kindergarten."

Clark ripped them from her hands, hiding a blush. "They were my favourites," he said under his breath. They spent the next few minutes rifling through the old clothes, commenting on some of the cuter or stranger items. Lois burst out laughing when she found a small flannel shirt that had belonged to the eight-year old Clark. They eventually decided on jeans, a bright red sweater with the word 'Smallville County Fair 1993' printed on it and a denim jacket that looked as if it had seen better days.

Lois was rummaging through the bottom, looking for a decent pair of socks when she spotted a photo that had somehow landed up in the chest. It depicted Martha and Jonathan with a five-year old Clark under a huge Christmas tree in the town square. They were all staring at the camera with expressions of giddy excitement that it made the photo look like something off a Hallmark card. Unconsciously, she ran her fingers over the image of the little boy, looking so carefree and cheerful with his huge grin and missing tooth.

"That was my second Christmas," Clark commented over her shoulder. "With my mom and dad," he said quickly. Lois quickly masked her expression, but found it difficult to feign disinterest, not when the little boy in the picture was grinning so sweetly and the man he had become was standing so closely behind her. Had he never heard the phrase, 'personal space' she thought, as the heat from his body practically radiated against her back.

"Do you remember life before them?" Lois asked. "I mean, before you were adopted?"

"Not really," he answered honestly. "My life began when my parents found me."

She smiled despite herself. How was it that he always knew just the right thing to say? "You were really adorable looking," she said, conspicuously pocketing the picture. Lois turned around to face him. "What happened?" It was only after she had turned around that she noticed just how close they were standing.

He smirked at her as she attempted to take a step backwards, only to find herself lodged between the large chest and his large chest. She looked ridiculously beautiful, Clark thought suddenly. He'd noticed Lois before-what man wouldn't? But suddenly it seemed that he could appreciate her without the barriers. As she stood before him, in his over-sized shirt and a baseball cap on backwards, Clark was struck by a sudden feeling of possessiveness that he'd never have associated with the free-spirited Lois Lane. If she could read his mind, he had no doubt that she'd probably sock him for thinking of her as _his_, but somehow it all felt so natural.

"Lois," he started, "We really should talk."

"Talk?" she asked sounding flustered. "We are talking." She tried not to look up at him, at his lips, his eyes, his lips...

"About last night, I mean." Those lips which pulled into a slight pout as he considered his next words. "About what happened with...us."

Lois licked her own lips reflexively, fighting the urge to stand on her tip toes and press her mouth against his. "The thing is, I don't really remember much of what happened last night. After the tequila I mean." The lie was so simple; she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

Clark frowned. "So you don't remember the-"

"Nope," she cut him off before he could say 'kiss'. "It's all a blank after that first shot."

"Huh," he looked at her as if he wasn't sure whether or not to believe her. "So you don't remember stripping to your underwear and serenading me with a version of _The Deeper the Love?_"

Lois' eyes went wide. She was about to protest righteous indignation when it occurred to her what he was doing. Sneaky, sneaky Smallville. "No," she answered in a small, almost pained voice. "I guess it must have been quite show."

He narrowed his eyes, not entirely convinced. "It certainly was. Although since you're having trouble remembering, perhaps a re-enactment is in order."

Lois surprised herself by blushing. What had gotten into her squeaky clean, PG-rated Smallville? This confident, almost flirtatious side was certainly new, but definitely not unwelcome, she thought, appreciating that glimmer in his eyes. To hell with rules, she decided rashly, if he could upturn the basket of butterflies in her tummy then she could try her damnedest to return the favour. Turning on the Lane charm, Lois placed both hands on his chest and leaned up against him, positioning her mouth just next to his ear. "You, uh, you might have to walk me through it," she breathed, delighting in the little ripple that she felt go through him. She pulled back just enough to meet his gaze. She recognised his expression as the one he had on just before he had kissed her. Bracing herself for the encore, Lois slowly leaned in before--

"LOIS!" Chloe hollered from below, "You've got some 'splainin' to do!" Their eyes met for a second before Lois pulled back.

"Coming, Chlo!" With an attempt at an apologetic smile, Lois tugged the clothing out of Clark's hands and made her way down the step ladder, leaving Clark alone in the musty attic.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 11:05**

"You're saying this guy's a nut job? We already know that." Bart leaned back in his chair, his attention turned to Chloe who was sitting further down the table.

"Not just a nut job, Bart, a certified nut job. Thomas Vartel spent fifteen years of his life in Belle Reve."

"So, he's unstable, no surprise there." Oliver commented. "What was he in for?"

"As far as we can tell," Bruce spoke up behind Chloe, "He was admitted after his wife's death. His medical reports state paranoid schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder among his conditions."

"Hold it," Zatanna raised her finger. "You're saying this guy suffers from a number of mental disorders. Has it occurred to anyone that he's completely delusional? That maybe he just thinks Clark let his son die?"

"One step ahead of you," Chloe said. She lifted up a printed document. "This is a copy of Isaac Vartel's death certificate. Says here he died on the 13th of November, 2009 due to unnatural causes. He was murdered, just like Vartel said."

"So, he's an honest loon, that's comforting," Lois said. "So why come after us now? Why wait?"

"Well, he was hospitalised from 1999 to 2015. There's a brief mention of an escape some time in 2009, but he was soon placed back into custody. Vartel was released in early 2015 for good behaviour and spent the next three years committing petty crimes and was at one point arrested for assault only to escape from custody before being hired for _Project Icarus."_

"_Project Icarus_," Lois repeated. "You mean the Jordan Twist initiative?" Bruce nodded.

"What's a Jordan Twist?" Bart asked.

"He's billionaire nerd." Lois explained, "The Bill Gates of Metropolis. I interviewed him last year concerning his work with the NASA Space mission. He was helping them communicate with some sort of foreign technology. It was all very hush, hush. I remember because I wasn't allowed an all access pass, and that was right after I got my Pulitzer so I couldn't figure out why."

"I remember," Chloe laughed, "You uh, threatened to sue the government?"

"They were in violation of the 1st amendment." Lois replied hotly.

"So, back to this _Project Icarus_," Dinah interrupted. "What's the deal?"

Bart frowned. "Wasn't Icarus the Greek dude who flew to close to the sun?"

Everyone around the table went silent. "What," Bart asked, mildly offended. "I do read you stuff sometimes. And, you know, the Discovery Channel was on this morning."

"Actually, Bart's on the right track," Chloe began. "_Project Icarus_ is a highly sensitive, highly intelligent computer programme which uses solar energy as a source of power. The government has twice attempted to shut down Twist's research, categorizing it as unstable, but somehow he keeps getting around that red tape. It's even been speculated that Twist's behind the string of murders of a number of high profile government officials, all of whom opposed his project."

"Wait a minute," Lois spoke up. "When I met this guy last year, he looked like he'd just crawled out of his mom's basement after playing with his _Star Wars_ dolls. He might have come off as intense, but a murderer? I don't know."

"All we know for sure is that a year ago, Twist employed Vartel, a non-descript petty thief to be the head of security for one of his companies. We can't trace any communication between them before that, but for some reason, Vartel managed to get involved in one of the most advanced technological projects of our time."

"This is all very interesting, but what does this have to do with Cira?" Lois questioned.

"The device," Oliver deducted. "You guys think it came from Twist?"

Bruce nodded. "We were puzzled as to how a common criminal like Thomas Vartel could obtain something as advanced and expensive as the temporal disturbance detector."

"The bomb?" Lois asked.

"Wait a minute," Zatanna spoke up. "You think Vartel is being funded by this Jordan Twist? So what's his stake in the matter? If he's the brains behind this operation then why allow Vartel to get caught?"

"So he could tell us his story," Bruce said.

"And get our sympathies..." Oliver finished and looked at Lois. "Lois, where's Clark?"

She looked from Oliver to Bruce. "I don't know."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Lois. "Is he with Vartel?"

She sighed. "I think so."

Bruce swore under his breath. "Stupid boy scout." He made his way to the door when Chloe's voice reached him.

"Bruce, wait." The entire League turned to her. "I think I've got an idea."

***

"I wasn't around, when Isaac died." Vartel leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"How did you find out about the murder?" Clark asked from his opposite seat.

"Newspaper," Vartel said. "After his death I became obsessed with vengeance. I researched every detail about what happened that day. That's how I know my boy was at the carnival. I know that he was shot twice in the gut in the Hall of Mirrors. And I know that the man responsible was on that bus. That's how I knew you let the bastard go free. That's how I knew you let Isaac die."

Clark ground his jaw at the accusation but the rest of his face remained impassive. "What about the actual murderer? The man who pulled the trigger?"

"They never found him. All I know is that he was on that bus, the bus that you saved. A couple of eye witness reports mentioned a man in a gray hoodie." Vartel shrugged. "That's all I know."

Clark frowned, "And yet you chose to exact vengeance on me and my family? Shouldn't your anger be directed at the man directly responsible?"

For a second, Vartel looked like he was going to get up and do something rash, but he just clenched his teeth, "You think I don't dream about killing him? That for years I didn't dream about finding the bastard and doing to him what he did to my Isaac? But you can't hunt a ghost, Clark. You on the other hand, you were out there for the world to have. Our red and blue saviour. Guardian angel of Metropolis and beyond." Clark watched in horror and pity as Vartel's face collapsed as he cried. "You're my only hope, Superman. I only did what I did because I need to save him. Save my son, Clark. I need you to save him."

Clark swallowed hard and offered his hand to the weeping man in front of him. "I'll do everything I can," he said firmly. "I promise."

* * *


	10. Once Upon a Time

A/N: Hey all! Here's the latest...hope you enjoy. The plot will be moving quite fast from now on. I'm anticipating about five or six more chapters till the end. Tell me what you think :)

Oh, and THANKS for the awesome reviews on the last chapter...some of you have some very interesting and scarily accurate theories ;)...

**Chapter 10: Once Upon a Time**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 11:20**

"LOIS!" Chloe hollered from below, "You've got some 'splainin' to do!" Chloe looked back into Clark's room, where Cira, still wrapped in a towel, was lying on the bed, naming the constellations of glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Lois came down the step-ladder wearing a guilty expression.

"What's up Chlo-ster?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Oh, don't you 'Chlo-ster' me, Lois Lane. I know about the baby."

""W-what baby?" Lois asked, feigning wide-eyed ignorance.

"The one that's supposed to be in 'my tummy'," she replied, using her fingers as quotation marks. "That's why you interrupted Cira everytime she mentioned it." Chloe looked genuinely upset. "Lois, how could you not tell me?"

"I don't know," Lois shrugged helplessly. "Look, I didn't think it was a big deal, okay? I mean, so you're pregnant in the future. It's not exactly unexpected."

"Yeah, but," Chloe sighed, "I guess I would have liked to have found out from you rather than your five year old daughter."

"Repeat that sentence and tell me who's really gotten the spoiler alert here."

Chloe looked apologetic. "Okay, I get your point. It's just so weird. I mean...I'm going to have baby. Jimmy and I are going to be _parents_."

"Well, at least you're already married to the father of your kid."

"Yeah, fate wasn't really subtle about this one, was she? I mean, are you and Clark dating now, or..."

Lois glanced up at the ceiling hatch then took Chloe's arm and guided her into the room. "Well that's the thing. Last night we kinda..." she raised her eyebrows in meaning.

Chloe's jaw fell open. "You and Clark? You and Clark had-"

"NO!" Lois' eyes went wide, "God, no. Not...that. We just kissed. For a while."

"Define 'a while'."

"Okay, so we might have made-out."

"Loiiis!" Chloe smacked her arm. "That's huge. So what happened?"

"I pulled back the troops, called it a night."Lois leaned back against Clark's cupboard.

Chloe's voice dropped down a notch as they heard his footsteps coming down from the attic. "Why?"

"I don't know." She sighed heavily. "I guess I wasn't sure if we doing it for the right reasons."

"There's a 'wrong reason' for making out with Clark Kent?"

"Look, Chlo, you know Clark. He's not exactly a love 'em and leave 'em type. So if he's kissing me, I've gotta assume-"

"He's got feelings for you."

"Riiight." Lois said. "And considering that it wasn't even a few months ago that he was still all goo-goo eyes over Countess Cotton Candy, I'm just not sure that..." she sighed again. "I'm not sure how much this one-eighty has to do with me and how much it has to do with the little Miss Lane." She motioned towards where Cira was squinting up at the ceiling, muttering to herself.

Chloe smiled softly. "Lois, I think you're underestimating Clark's feeling for you. And even though Cira's presence may have opened his eyes, I don't think she's the reason he kissed you."

Lois looked at her sceptically.

"Look, I know emotional vulnerability isn't exactly high on the list of Lois traits, but maybe if you spoke to Clark-"

"You know what, Chloe, you're right," Lois nodded her head resolutely, "I should just forget the whole thing ever happened. Under rug swept and all that."

"Lois, that's not what I-"

"Hey, squirt," she cut Chloe off as she walked towards Cira. "You ready to get some clothes on?"

Cira glanced at Lois before turning her attention back at the stars. "Look Mommy, it's your star." She pointed to the middle of the ceiling.

"Which one is that?" Lois looked up.

"There, Mommy! Next to the swirly squiddy constar-lation and the Milky Way bar. See?"

"Oh, yeah I see." She didn't.

"That's the Lois Lane star. Daddy said it's 'the only thing that could ever match your beauty'." She did her best Clark impersonation. "R'member Mommy? When I'm big, I want a star too and Daddy will take me to see it like he tooked you."

"You mean showed her? Right? Through a telescope?" Chloe asked trying to hide her apprehension.

Cira shook her head. "No, Aunt Chloe. Daddy tooked Mommy to see her star. Daddy tooked her all the way up on the Daily Planet. He said that's the best view of the whole city. One day, he's gonna take me too, but not yet cause high places make me feel fizzy." She crossed her eyes for a second. "Like that."

"You mean dizzy?" Chloe asked, hiding a smile.

"Nope," Cira answered with certainty. "Fizzy."

"Cira," Lois' voice sounded thick, as if she had trouble getting the next few words out, "Where else does Daddy take me?"

"Lois," Chloe began hesitantly, "Maybe you shouldn't..."

"No, Chlo," she sounded decisive, "I want to know."

Chloe nodded, "Okay, well I'm just gonna," she took two paces back, "I'm gonna go find Clark. Give you two some bonding time."

Lois barely acknowledged Chloe's absence. Her attention was focused solely on the little girl staring back at her with Clark Kent's eyes. "Cira, tell me more about what we like to do. Tell me about our family."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 11:30**

"Chloe, I won't let you do this," Lois said firmly.

Chloe sighed, "Lois, I'll be perfectly safe. Look, it's the only way. You know Clark."

Bruce gritted his teeth. "He wouldn't let you do this either. For godsake, Chloe, you're pregnant."

Chloe turned to Bruce. "But it won't be my body in danger. The baby will be perfectly fine. And it's the safest way, you know that, Bruce."

"She's got a point." Oliver's voice broke through the debate. "I mean, if you're sure you won't be hurting your kid, then I think you should do it."

Lois shook her head, "Ollie! Would you let Dinah do this if she were pregnant?"

Oliver looked down at his wife. "Yeah, I would. If it could save Cira."

"I agree with Oliver." Dinah said taking his hand. "Chloe, I think you should do it."

Lois sighed. "Chloe, I can't let anything happen to you."

Chloe smiled down at her. "Lois, I'll only be a couple of minutes anyway. I might even see Cira."

Lois looked hopeful. "If you're sure then...okay. You have my vote." She looked to the tall man leaning against the doorframe with a sour expression on his face. "Bruce?"

Bruce pulled his mask over his face and turned to walk out. "I'll be waiting in the car."

Lois got up. "Okay, while you do that, I'm going to see what I can get out of Twist."

"Whoa," Oliver held up his hand, "Lois, this guy could be dangerous. After all we've uncovered, we don't know what he's capable of."

"Well, that's what I'm hoping to find out."

"Lois," Zatanna started. "How are you going to get in? It's Sunday afternoon. How can you be sure he's even at the office?"

Lois dug into her bag and pulled out an 'all access pass'. "I'm hoping he's not."

Zatanna narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said they didn't give you one of those?"

Lois smirked. "They didn't."

Oliver shook his head. "Listen, Lois at least wait until Chloe's out of the woods."

"No way, Quiver boy. Time's a wasting. The sooner I can find out what Twist's connection to this whole thing is the better."

"Lois is right," Dinah said. "We should do this as soon as possible."

"We?" Lois raised an eyebrow in question.

"I'm coming with you," Dinah said, reaching for her bag.

"Yeah, count me in," Zatanna said.

"No way," Lois objected. "No offence but fishnets and leather don't exactly scream covert. I've got more than a little experience in sneaking into government facilities. Legally, of course," she added when the superheroes raised their eyebrows.

"Look, we can blend," Dinah said, "And it might come in handy having the Justice League at your back."

Zatanna nodded. "Come on, Lois. We're here to help."

Lois sighed and turned to Oliver, "Fine, but there's one condition."

"Which is?"

She shot him a sly smile. "That we get to take the Jag."

Oliver looked at the three women, all of whom he'd at some point been with, all staring at him with identical expectant expressions. He sighed painfully and dug his hand into his pocket. Oliver pulled out a set of keys, kissed them and threw them at Lois. "Take care of my baby."Lois put her arm around Dinah's shoulder.

"She'll be fine, Ollie, I'm ashamed to say, this is not my first B and E."

Dinah rolled her eyes. "He meant the Jag."

Zatanna laughed. "Come on, girls, we've got a multi-billion dollar empire to break into."

Oliver watched as the three of them exited the room, realising with growing unease that the drive to Twist Towers was quite far away, giving them plenty of time to talk about shared interests. "Oh boy."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 11:51**

"And then Krypto eated Uncle Ollie's hotdog and it was funny cause he was running around chasin' Krypto!" Cira giggled at the memory. "And then Daddy came and you and Daddy danced in the garden. It was sooo pretty, remember Mommy, cause Aunt Chloe put fairies all round the trees and they glowed, and then you and Daddy went up, up, up and then Aunt Dinah called Daddy's name real loud and he came down." She leaned in closer to Lois and whispered. "I heard Daddy say he could stay up there forever." She sighed dreamily, as if recalling a fairytale.

"What do you mean we went up, up, up?"

Cira frowned. "How come you don't remember Mommy?"

"I do remember," Lois lied, "But I like hearing you tell it, munchkin."

"Daddy said that I got your gift for the tall tales." Cira said. "What's a tall tale?"

Lois almost laughed, imagining Clark saying it. "It's uh, a story," she answered. "A very imaginative story."

"'Kay. Can you read me about Max?" Cira shifted closer to Lois. They were lying on Clark's bed, heads touching, looking up at the ceiling. The room began to get darker and the sky outside turned gray, threatening rainfall and thunder.

"Max?"

"Yeah," Cira fiddled with the button of Clark's old denim jacket. "Max and the Wild Things."

"Uh, how about you tell me a story?"

Cira grinned up at her. "Like a bedtime story?"

"Uh-huh."

"Which one, Mommy?"

Lois looked down at Cira and felt an overwhelming and completely unexpected surge of love. She gently reached down and brushed stray hairs off the little girl's forehead. "You pick."

"Can I tell the one about the Princess and the Knight? It's Daddy's story but I remember it real good."

"Okay," Lois said softly. "You tell that one."

Cira shifted up so that she was eye to eye with Lois, their foreheads practically touching. She ran her little finger over Lois' right eyebrow. "You're different, Mommy." She whispered it as if it were a secret.

Lois swallowed. "Yeah."

Cira nodded, accepting something which she couldn't quite understand, but trusting Lois nonetheless. "Once upon a time," she began, "There was a princess. Her name was Lo. She was pretty and smart and real tough. When the other princesses were getting their hair poofed and their nails shined, she was kicking butt and saving the kingdom from cor-cor..." Cira squished up her face as she tried to remember the word.

"Corruption?" Lois offered.

"Yeah, corrupshin. See, Princess Lo didn't fight with a sword or a shield; she fought with her pen, spreading the truth and the word of justice all over the kingdom. Even though she was real pretty and wonderful, the Princess had a hole in her heart. Cause when she was very little, her mommy died and her daddy was a very busy king so he didn't spend alotta time with her. And she had no-one to tell her how special she was." Lois felt her heart thud in her chest. There was no denying who the Princess was supposed to be. Did Clark really know her that well? Would she ever open up to him like that?

"One day," Cira continued, "Princess Lo went down to the stables. That's the place where all the horsies stay," she expanded, obviously telling the story the way Clark had told it to her. "In the stables, there was a stableboy. He was handsome and charming and friendly and just really really great." Lois resisted the urge to snort and roll her eyes. "His name was Kal." Lois frowned. She had heard the name somewhere before, she was sure of it.

"But all the princess saw," Cira went on, "was a boring, stubborn stable boy who dressed funny. And when the stable boy looked at the princess, he saw a bossy, rude, stuck-up girl who liked getting her way." Lois actually let out a chuckle at that one, half-outraged, half-amused.

"What's funny, Mommy?" Cira asked.

"Nothing," Lois cleared her throat. "Go on."

"So princess and the stable-boy didn't really like each other much in the beginning, but everytime the princess needed to go out, she would have to fetch a horsie from the stables and soon Princess Lo and Kal became friends. Sometimes he even helped her in the kingdom. But one day, the princess was on a mission to explode the biggest bad man in the kingdom."

"You mean expose?" Lois asked.

"Nope," Cira shook her head. "Explode. She wanted to explode all his secrets. But the bad man sent his goons to kidnap Princess Lo. She was always getting herself in trouble. They were very mean so they tied her up and threw her off the edge of a waterfall. The princess screamed for help, but no-one could hear her cause it was so loud. So she went down, down, down until suddenly, it felt like she was going up. Princess Lo opened her eyes and saw a man dressed up like a knight, holding her tightly and flying up and away. She was very scared, but he said," And at this point, Cira put on a deep voice, "Easy, Miss, I've got you.' 'You've got me?" said the princess, 'Who's got you?!" But the knight held her tight and flew her safely to her castle. He told the princess that he was a friend and that he was from a kingdom far away in the stars then he flew away. From that moment on, the princess was in love. Am I telling it good, Mommy?" Cira asked suddenly.

Lois felt a strange feeling come over her, like she was recalling a memory or a dream. Answers and suspicions, hazy and not fully formed began to take shape in her mind. "You're telling it perfect."

"Okay," Cira grinned. "So Princess Lo was one hundred percent smitten with the knight. Smitten means in love," Cira supplied helpfully. "And he was all she could think of or talk about. She started spending less and less time with Kal because she was trying to find a way to meet the knight again. Then one day, the knight met with her at the top of the highest tower of the castle and told her that she was very special. But the princess realised that the hole in her heart was already filled."

"Kal." Lois said softly.

"Mommy, you can't interrupt," Cira scolded. "The hole in Princess Lo's heart was filled by Kal. So, the princess told the knight that he was wonderful and brave but that she was in love with a stupid stable-boy. Then the knight smiled and took off his helmet and the princess saw that he was really Kal all along."

Lois swallowed hard. "All along," she echoed. Outside, a bolt of lightning streaked the sky, as if the gods had flicked on a light switch.

"So then Princess Lo told him that it didn't matter that he was from the stars or that he could run as fast as lightening. She loved him because he was special and brave and because he filled the hole in her heart. And they lived happily ever after. But Daddy never says 'the end' cause it's not. So then he usually says that they go on to have many other adventures, one of them named 'Cira'." She giggled. "That's the best part."

"I bet it is," Lois said in awe-struck wonder, feeling her world come crashing down around her, "I bet it is."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 12:01**

"When I do this, it'll send you back to 2009. You'll have exactly-" Vartel looked at the clock on the wall. "That Central Eastern time?"

Clark nodded.

"Then you'll have exactly 2 hours and 4 minutes to convince your past self to let that bus drop."

"Now wait a minute, I'm not going to let those people die."

"But you said-"

"I said I'd save your son," Clark said emphatically, "But I am saving that bus from falling. I won't let innocent people die. I'll let my past self save the bus while I make sure Isaac is safe."

"No, no, no." Vartel shook his head. "You have to talk to him, past you. You have to convince him."

"Listen, Tim. I can speak to my past self after I save Isaac. When I get Cira. It'll all work out."

"No, you're not listening. You have to be in the same place with him, in the same time."

"Why? Why is that so important?"

"Because that's how it works!" Vartel screamed suddenly. "Because that's what he said would work!"

Clark narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

"Jordan Twist."

Both Clark and Vartel turned to see Bruce's dark figure in the doorway. "Isn't that right, Vartel? You're working for Twist. He's the one who sent you here."

Clark turned to Vartel, his face showing a hurt and disappointment that Bruce came to expect from the Man of Steel who expected so much from these humans. "Is that true?"

Vartel looked from Clark to Bruce, his face a mixture of fear and sad resolve. "Yes, it was Mr. Twist who gave me the idea."

With almost inhuman speed, Bruce had Vartel against the wall of the Silent Space, holding him up by his neck. "Why?" Bruce's grip tightened around Vartel's neck. "Why does he want Superman in the past?"

"He doesn't," Vartel managed. "He was helping me. I swear. He just gave me the idea. I swear, please."

"Batman, let him go," Clark ordered, vaguely aware of the irony of the fact that less that 24 hours before, he had been the one threatening to cut off Vartel's air supply.

"He's lying," Bruce said through gritted teeth.

"No, he's not," Clark said, pulling Bruce away. "He told Diana he was working alone. He's telling the truth."

Bruce grunted and grudgingly loosened his grip. Vartel fell to the floor in a coughing mess. "Mr. Twist was right about you people." He said raspily. "You're all costumed barbarians. Changing the world how you see fit. Playing god with mortals."

"Shut up and start talking." Bruce circled Vartel. "What's your connection with Twist?"

Vartel looked up at the masked man with fear. "He's my boss. He found me a couple of months ago. He helped me, helped me channel my powers. He told me that he could help me get my son back. He said that if I could get Superman to stop Isaac from being murdered then it would save him. That's all, I swear. The plan was my own."

Clark knelt beside Vartel. "Did he tell you to send Cira back?" Vartel shook his head.

"No, that was my idea. It was all my idea. Mr. Twist just helped with the technology. Gave me the detector."

Clark stepped back. "Why do want me in the same place as my younger self? You said that's what he said would work."

"After I came up with my plan to send you back, I told Mr. Twist. He said that if I could get you and your younger self into the same space at the same time, Isaac would be saved for sure. He said that's how it worked. Look, he didn't want anything in return. He said he knew what it was like to lose someone. He wanted to help me. That's all. He wanted to help me."

"And you believed him?" Bruce sneered. "You didn't ask any questions?"

"I had no choice." Vartel protested. "It's my son."

"And it's his daughter," Bruce countered. "Superman may buy the desperate father act, but I don't." With little effort, Bruce lifted Vartel off the ground and threw him into a chair. "Stay there until we get back. Move and you'll be sorry." With a final glance at Vartel, Bruce guided Clark out of the room. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Clark asked, breaking free of Bruce's grip.

"To the conference room," Bruce said, walking briskly. "Chloe's waiting for us."

"Chloe?" Clark stopped. "Bruce what's going on?"

He sighed. "Maybe if you weren't so quick to trust the bad guys and maybe stick around long enough to attend meetings you'd be more clued up."

"Bruce. Tell me."

"Remember the Cerebral Transmigrator we've been working on for the past few months?

Clark nodded.

"Well, we're about to take it for a test drive. To 2009."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 12:01**

"I want to tell her, Chloe. I want to tell her my secret."

Chloe sat back on the couch, watching her best friend pace excitedly in front of the little barn window. Outside, a cloud burst, causing light rain to drizzle the ground. "Clark, you're sure? I mean, this isn't something you can undo with a Legion Ring. Once Lois knows your secret, there no going back."

Clark looked at her intensely. "Chloe, for the first time in my life I feel like I can have it all. Like I can be a hero, be somebody and still be me. Showing Lois who I really am is the first step."

"Clark, I'm all for the great reveal, but I think you should be doing this for the right reasons."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean revealing your secret to Lois because you think it's the right thing to do and not because you think it's something you have to do. Not because of any pressure."

"Pressure?"

"You know, a little five year old pressure with pretty blue eyes and a dimpled smile."

"Chloe, Cira is amazing. And knowing that she's in my future is...wonderful. Overwhelming, but wonderful. But that's not the reason I want Lois to know my secret."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "It's not?"

"No." Clark stopped pacing and sighed. "I think...I think I might be falling for her."

Chloe let out a burst of laughter.

"What's funny?" Clark frowned.

"Might be falling for her? God, Clark, that's the understatement of the year. You've fallen so hard; you can't even see your feet."

He shot her a side smile. "It's just, kissing Lois last night just felt so...so..."

"Right?" Chloe supplied. "Thanks for sharing that with me, by the way."

He came down and sat next to her. "I leant the hard way that people around me can get hurt, whether they know my secret or not. And Lois, she deserves the truth. She deserves to know who I really am. And for the first time, I want her to know all of me."

"Okay, Wordsworth. Not that I'm not keen on sharing, but how about you save some of that feeling for Lois? Tell her how you feel. I'm sure she'll-" Chloe's head suddenly went slack and lolled back against the headrest of the couch.

"Chloe?" Clark raised her eyelid. It seemed she had fainted. Her heartbeat remained normal, her pulse steady. Gently, Clark patted her cheek. "Chloe?!"

Blinking a couple of times, she opened her eyes. "Clark?"

"Chloe, what happened? One minute you were talking and the next-"

"Wow," Chloe cut him off and stood up, looking around the barn. "It's been so long since I was up here. What are the odds that this me was actually talking to you huh? I thought I would have to call you up or something."

Clark narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? Chloe what just happened?"

She took a deep breath and turned to him. "Okay. I'm just going put it all out there. I'm not the Chloe you were talking to. I'm from the future. I'm from 2018."

Clark got up off the couch and walked towards her cautiously. "How do I know this isn't some trick to get to-"

"Cira?" Chloe asked. ""Look, we can do the whole, ask me a question only you and I know, or you can believe me when I say that I am Chloe Sullivan-Olsen from 2018. My mind was swapped with your Chloe. Don't worry, she's fine," she said, anticipating Clark's next question. "I was given a sedative in the future, so she won't even remember this experience."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to tell you what to do. I take it you've figured out that Cira's yours?"

Clark nodded mutely. The confirmation was jarring. Of course he'd known, but hearing it coming from someone else was so...final.

"She was sent here by a man named Thomas Vartel. It was a ploy to get the future Clark to come back to the past and save Vartel's son from being murdered."

"How can we get Cira back?"

"Well that's what we're working on. Vartel placed a TDD on her somewhere. It's a device that monitors time-travel. We can't move Cira until that bomb is removed. Clark, you have to find it on her and destroy it."

Clark looked as if he was about to blur past Chloe but she put her hand in his arm. "Don't worry, it's only dangerous if she'd being moved through time, right know, you've got bigger fish to fry."

"What do I have to do?"

Chloe looked down at Past Chloe's watch. "In about exactly two hours, Clark, you're going to have to stop a bus from falling off the edge of Roark's bridge. On it there'll be a man in a gray hoodie. He's going to kill Vartel's son. You have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Clark nodded, taking it all in. "Then you'll come get Cira?"

"As soon as possible, we'll send someone to get her. She's safe right?"

"She's great," Clark said.

"Okay, so all you have to do is fly over to the bridge at-"

"Wait, fly?"

Chloe bit her lip. "Oh, you can't fly yet huh?"

Clark shook his head. "I fly in the future? Like up, up and away?"

She nodded tentatively. "Maybe it's best I don't say any more. I mean, I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Chloe, considering the fact that my five-year old daughter is currently in there with Lois, I don't think there's much more to be spoiled."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Chloe said cryptically. "Look, Clark, time's running out. I can only stay for a few more minutes. Do you know what you have to do?"

Clark nodded. "Save the bus, stop the guy in the gray hoodie. Find the device on Cira. Chloe?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"So this is all true? I mean, you're not from some alternate reality or something?"

She shook her head. "I'm from your future, Clark. This is all true."

"So Lois and I...we're really married?"

"Almost seven years now," she confirmed. "And you're happy," she added. "And that's all you'll get out of me."

Clark smiled. "What about you? Are you happy?"

Chloe looked out at the farm through the little window where the rain was gently pattering on the ground. "Most of the time." She put on a bright smile and turned to him. "Do me a favour. When your Chloe gets back, tell her to go home. Tell her Jimmy's waiting for her."

Clark frowned for a second as if sensing that she was holding back, but let it go. "Alright, I'll tell her...you. I'm beginning to really hate time-travel."

"Tell me about it." Chloe looked up at him suddenly, her eyes starting to droop, "Clark...don't forget. Save the b-" Then she fell against him, slack and unconscious.

He picked her up and gently put her down on the couch. After a minute, Chloe opened her eyes and blinked against gray light in the barn. "Clark, what's happening?"

"It's okay," he said, kneeling beside her. "Your mind was borrowed for a few minutes."

"Borrowed?" Chloe asked alarmed.

"By the future you," he said. "She told me what I had to do and-"

"Jimmy!" Chloe said suddenly, sitting up.

"What?"

Chloe looked at him with big eyes. "Clark, I can't explain, but I need to see Jimmy. I don't know what happened, but something inside me is telling me to see him, to be with him. It's like...like I haven't seen him for months. I actually miss him."

A suspicion, heartbreaking and morbid took hold of Clark. He hoped to God he was wrong. For the sake of this Chloe and the woman she would become. "It's okay, Chloe. We'll be fine here. Go home."

"You sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Go be with your husband. Besides, I think Lois and I need to do some talking of our own."

On impulse, Chloe stood on her toes and gently kissed Clark's cheek. "Good luck."

He shot her a half grin. "Thanks." Clark watched her leave then looked at his watch. _12:13 _Two hours until he needed to save that bus. Two hours until he changed the course of the future.

He was at the top of the stairs when he saw her. Standing at the base, her hair slightly dampened by the rain, her face a kaleidoscope of emotions. She'd never stared at him that way before. He couldn't figure it out. But then she was coming up the steps, two at a time, closing the gap between them. Before Clark could wrap his mind around it, she was in front of him, her hands on his chest, she body pressed tightly against his. Without a word, Lois leaned up and kissed him. Instinctively, Clark brought arms around her, moving his hand to her lower back, urging her even closer. Her hands snaked their way into his hair as she changed the angle of the kiss. Their lips met with abandon and Clark found himself suppressing a moan as Lois' tongue slid against his own, threatening to send him over the edge. Just when he wondered how many paces it would be to the couch, Lois pulled back and stared at him with an expression he'd only seen once before – the day his name made the banner headline of the Daily Planet. The day he'd turned back time. Staring at him now with that identical expression, Lois sighed and shook her head, "We better talk."

* * *


	11. Open Book

**A/N:** New chapter finally arrived! The delay I blame utterly and completely on the awesomeness that was Comic-con which subsequently fried my brain and made it impossible for me to work. Hopefully the length of the this chapter will make up for the wait.

As always, THANK YOU for you reviews. Each one is read, re-read and appreciated by me. I love hearing what you have to say, so keep saying it :)

Secondly,things get a little HOT in this chapter. I anticipate that most of you won't mind too much ;) If you do however, skim read to be safe.

Hope you enjoy...

**Chapter 11 – Open Book**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 12:28**

He was at the top of the stairs when he saw her. Standing at the base, her hair slightly dampened by the rain, her face a kaleidoscope of emotions. She'd never stared at him that way before. He couldn't figure it out. But then she was coming up the steps, two at a time, closing the gap between them. Before Clark could wrap his mind around it, she was in front of him, her hands on his chest, she body pressed tightly against his. Without a word, Lois leaned up and kissed him. Instinctively, Clark brought arms around her, moving his hand to her lower back, urging her even closer. Her hands snaked their way into his hair as she changed the angle of the kiss. Their lips met with abandon and Clark found himself suppressing a moan as Lois' tongue slid against his own, threatening to send him over the edge. Just when he wondered how many paces it would be to the couch, Lois pulled back and stared at him with an expression he'd only seen once before – the day his name made the banner headline of the Daily Planet. The day he'd turned back time. Staring at him now with that identical expression, Lois sighed and shook her head, "We better talk."

Clark stared back at her with a dazed, freshly-kissed expression. "Lois, we are talking."

"No, I mean..." Lois bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyes at him, as if assessing how to proceed. "Clark, I know."

"Know?"

"I know that you're the Red-Blue Blur!" she blurted out. "I know that you're Metropolis' mysterious hero. I know it was you on the phone that night."

Despite his prior resolution to share his secret with her, Clark's knee-jerk reaction was to deny it all, as if years of hiding who he really was made it nearly impossible for him to just confirm her claims. He took a step away from her as if to distance himself from the truth. "Lois, I don't know what to say,"

"No, Clark, it's okay," she closed the gap between them. "I'm not mad. I mean, I was when I put it all together. Mostly at myself for being a lousy reporter and not seeing it all sooner and yeah, at you for you know, keeping this huge secret from m-everyone. But the more I thought about it..." she took a breath. "The disappearing act, the half-baked excuses. All this time I coughed it up to a classic case of Peter Pan syndrome but...you're the opposite. You're..." She stared at him with an expression of disbelief and awe, "a hero."

Hearing those words come from her lips, hearing her say it with such conviction, such wonder was the first time Clark dared to believe it. 'Lois this is a lot to take in."

"Tell me about it," she replied. "It's not every day you find out your partner's a 'meteor freak'."

"I'm not a 'meteor freak'," Clark said hesitantly.

"Oh, right, that's not exactly 'pc'. 'Meteor-challenged' then?"

He smiled despite himself. "Lois, now that you know, I think you should know it all."

"I want to" she said, staring solemnly back at him, her eyes trusting in spite of the revelation she'd uncovered. Clark wondered with some trepidation whether she'd be as accepting of his origins, but knew that there was no going back. It was time to open that can of Kryptonian worms, so to speak.

With a nervous breath, he moved to the couch and motioned for her to sit down beside him. Outside, the grey clouds gathered causing filtered white light to seep into the barn. Clark listened to the sound of the rain falling on grass blades in Ben Hubbard's field, to the scrape of Cira's pencil as she drew pictures at the kitchen table, to the whinnying of the horses below and finally to the fast, steady beat of Lois' heart as she sat beside him, her face filled with anticipation. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

"That's the understatement of the century, but whatever. I get why you couldn't tell anyone your secret, although you could have trusted me. I mean as far as secret identities go, I know a thing or two about keeping 'em secret, just ask Olivohmygod! It was you in the alley, dressed up as Green Arrow! I knew I'd kissed you before. Which means Ollie knows about your powers which means he supplied you with that neat little voice modifier. So are you guys in some sort of superhero club? You know, Hero Complex Anonymous? Am I rambling? I guess I'm rambling a little but it just sort of hit me that you're the Red Blue Blur. As in THE. Which means you've heard me gush over the guy which wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that you are the guy or he's you? It's just all really confusing and this went a lot smoother in my head. Maybe you should kiss me again-that seemed to work the last time. Or, you know, not. Whatever."

"LOIS!" He sighed in exasperation, "Would you just listen to me?!"

She looked repentant. "I'm sorry. I just...hey, you can't read my mind can you?"

He got up suddenly and walked to the window then stared back at her.

"Smallville," she said in a quiet voice, "Come back here."

Holding her stare, he came to sit back beside her and took a deep breath. "In the attic, this morning, when I told you that I didn't remember anything before my mom and dad found me, that wasn't exactly true." His eyes met hers in a vulnerable gaze. "I have one memory, I guess it's my earliest memory. It's of my mother, my biological mother. I remember her...putting me on the ship. The ship that brought me here."

"Ship? As in masts and anchors?"

"Ship as in space...and stars. I was put in a space ship that brought me to earth."

"So you're from..." Lois raised her eyes to the roof of the barn.

"Krypton," he said, watching her swallow hard as she tried to make sense of his words. "It's the name of my home planet."

"Krypton." She whispered it. The name felt strange on her tongue.

"My biological parents sent me to earth when they realised that Krypton was about to be destroyed." His voice grew softer. "They sacrificed their lives to protect mine and now they're gone along with the entire planet. The only thing left are the meteor rocks, radio-active pieces of the planet."

"Clark, I'm sorry." And she meant it. Lois' unassuming capacity for compassion never failed to surprise him.

"I was lucky," he said simply. "I was found by my Mom and Dad. No matter how scared or confused I got about where I came from or who I was, I always knew that I was loved. It didn't matter that I was fast or strong, that I can see through solid objects or blast fire from my eyes. They saw my abilities as gifts, not curses. It's taken me longer to accept that, but I think I'm finally starting to see the good I can do." He frowned when Lois opened her moth to speak but then shut it again. "You're speechless," Clark said, trying to decipher the expression on her face. "That's never a good thing."

She surreptitiously crossed her arms over the front of her shirt. "So about that whole 'see through things' thing..."

Clark let out a breath, half relieved that she wasn't about to turn around and run, half amused that that was the one thing she decided to comment on. Leave it to Lois Lane to be unpredictable. "Lois," he shook his head when she raised an eyebrow at him. "I have to focus. It's not something that just...I would never use my powers for anything...immoral."

Slowly, she uncrossed her arms. "So, uh...what colour's my bra?"

Clark's eyebrows shot up. "W-what?"

"Well, Smallville, you just told me that you're from another freaking planet; that you can outrun sound, see through things, shoot fire from your eyes and God knows what else. I can't be expected to believe it all without a little demonstration now can I?"

"Lois, I can take you to Paris or Tahiti in less than four minutes, I can set the barn alight by just looking at a pile of hay and you want me to x-ray your bra?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not a big fan of fire hazards and besides, it's raining."

"Not in Tahiti."

"Look Smallville, you're stalling and I'm begin-"

"Turquoise."

"What?"

"Your um, bra," he cleared his throat. "It's turquoise."

Lois pulled the shirt away from her front and looked down to make sure. Looking slightly embarrassed, she re-crossed her arms over her chest. "Well done," she said awkwardly. "So,

about Tahiti..."

Clark chuckled, feeling as if a planet sized weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Lois knew. She knew and she was still sitting beside him, staring at him with a tiny smile that made the little dimple in her chin show up. There was so much more he had to tell her, so much more he wanted to share with her. Details about his heritage, about Jor-El and Lara, about Kara, Krypton. He wanted to tell her about his saves and his newly adopted 'hero' status. So much he wanted to say, but at that moment, all that mattered was that she was still beside him. "I wanted to tell you," he said finally. "I was going to, just before you...before we..."

"Yeah," she looked down and Clark could have sworn he'd seen a look of shyness pass over her

face. "Sorry about that."

"You are?" he tried to mask his disappointment. Being in love with a meteor-freak was one thing. Being in love with an alien was another. He couldn't expect her to see him in the same light after that little revelation. He supposed he couldn't blame her.

"Well, I didn't mean to..." she looked up suddenly. "Wait, why were you going to tell me?"

"What?"

"You said you were about to tell me, before I let the cat outta the bag. Why me? Why am I the first one you told…about the E.T thing I mean?"

He looked away from her to where the rain was now consistently hammering on the ground outside. "Actually, you're not. Chloe and Lana already know. They've known for a while now."

She nodded slowly. "Oh." Her voice sounded small in the big, nearly empty barn. "So why now? Why the sudden membership card to the 'Clark Kent is an alien' club?" He noticed the sudden terseness in her tone.

Clark shrugged. "I guess because I thought you deserved to know."

"Why?" she pressed.

He shifted in his place unsure of how to answer, "Because it was the right thing to do."

She frowned, "That's it? You told me because 'it was the right thing to do? Well thank you for doing me the favour, Clark." She stood up abruptly and stared down at him with a hurt expression. "I hope this earns you your Boy Scout badge for honesty!"

Clark watched as she turned on her heels and ran down the steps, wondering what the hell he'd said wrong.

She was halfway between the barn and the house when he blurred in front of her, blocking her path. He was in the rain for barely a second and already beginning to get drenched. She gazed up at him through wet eyelashes waiting for him to say something, but he just stood there staring at her as if unable to articulate the feeling building up behind his eyes.

Frustrated, Lois made a move to walk past him but he stepped in her way, forcing her to halt. "I swear, Smallville, if you do not move I will make a serious dent in your alien ass." She tried to move around him but he gripped her by the arms to hold her still. The rain was coming down hard, soaking them completely.

"Lois, wait."

"Clark, get out of my way." her voice would have been dangerously low if she was not forced to yell over the drumming of the rain.

His first reaction was to immediately step back, but her held on to her and lowered his head so that they were eye to eye. "Lois, I meant what I said. I wanted to tell you because it was the right thing to do and because you deserved to know, but mostly, mostly because that's what you do when you're in love with someone. You share all of who you are with them."

She let out a deep breath and frowned up at him. "Huh?!"

"Lois," he released his grip on her arms but took a step closer to her, their bodies touching, their faces inches apart. "I'm in love with you," Clark said simply.

She stared at him with a dumbstruck, wide-eyed look that made him regret coming on that strong. "I understand if you need to take some time," he continued. "I mean, I get that this is a lot to take in, what with Cira and now this...what I'm saying is, I'll understand if you need space."

She reached up and put her finger over his lips. "Smallville?"

"Lois?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

Needing no further encouragement, he tangled his fingers in her hair before capturing her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss that made the cold of the rain melt away. Lois' arms went around Clark's neck, pulling him impossibly closer. Suddenly the rain stopped and behind them, a rainbow, barely there but visible began to take shape. Both phenomena went unnoticed as they held on to each other, hands fumbling, mouths seeking, moans and groans filling the cold, damp air. Clark stumbled back as Lois arched into him, searching for a solid something to ravish him against. Eventually pinning him against the wooden fence, Lois slid her hands over his sodden t-shirt, pulling the material up as she went. Clark groaned against her mouth as her cool fingers skimmed over his chest. His brain, located somewhere in the northern region of his body objected that getting to second base outside his house on a Sunday afternoon was not exactly how he had planned on wooing Lois Lane but another appendage located further south quickly rebuffed any objections when Lois' tongue slid past his jaw as she kissed her way to his ear. As Clark moved his hands from her waist down to cup her ass through her rain soaked jeans, he was pretty certain that he was about to enter of the most erotic experience of his life thus far. He leaned back against the fence and Lois pushed into him, moulding her body against his. Through the gasping and heavy breathing neither registered the slight creaking until it was too late. Suddenly, the fence collapsed under the weight of their bodies, sending Clark flying back with Lois on top of him. Their fall was cushioned by a thick pool of mud which completely soiled Clark's back and most of his sides. Lois sat up on him, laughing so hard she started to make choking sounds.

"Oh you think this is funny huh?" With super swiftness, he reversed their positions, effectively pinning Lois onto her back and into the mud. With an outraged yelp, she grabbed a fistful of dirt and squished it against Clark's face.

"Yeah," she said, not bothering to suppress the laughter in her voice. "I do." She shrieked and tried to escape from his hold when he lowered his face and tried to rub some of the mud off onto her cheek. And as they wrestled on the ground, filthy, breathless and laughing, Clark realised that for the first time in his life, he felt like there was a place for him in the world, a place that seemed to be very close to Lois Lane.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 13:02**

"Lois, get your ass back here!"

"Or what, you'll hex me?"

"Don't tempt her," Dinah whispered loudly as they made their way down the corridor of Twist Towers Headquarters.

Lois lagged behind, trying to dodge the two women in front of her. "Look, if we split up-"

"Uh-uh," Zatanna said. "Last time we accompanied you on one of your adventures and we split up, you came this close to landing up in another dimension and I had to double curse the security guard with a forgetting spell."

"That's my point," Lois replied. "If things get sticky, you'll be there to pull me out. So why don't we-"

"Shh!" Dinah put her fingers to her lips and pointed up at the security camera just ahead of them. "We'll have to go around," she indicated to an adjacent corridor.

"But Twist's office is this way," Lois said, pointing down the hall. "Can't you just do the canary thing to shatter the lens?"

"Not without bursting your eardrums in the process," Dinah said. "It's too close."

"Okay," Zatanna nodded. "Then let's-"

"Can I help you ladies?"

All three women turned to face the uniformed security guard.

"Hope you've got that wand ready," Lois muttered under her breath.

"You uh," he looked them up and down. "You ain't supposed to be up here. It's restricted."

"Officer," Dinah began, batting her eyelashes and turning on the charm in full force. "It is officer isn't it? I mean, you're so commanding I just assumed you were a cop."

"Actually, I'm just a guard. Larry," he said, pointing to his name tag. He cleared his throat when Dinah advanced towards him.

"Well, Larry. My friends and I were coming in to see Mr. Twist. He's _expecting_ us," she said, heavy on the connotation.

Larry's eyes travelled from Dinah to Zatanna and then to Lois with wide-eyed appreciation. He swallowed hard. "Mr-uh Mr Twist isn't here right now. He doesn't usually come in on Sundays."

"Are you sure?" Dinah asked, pouting a little. "Because we were called just an hour ago from his office and we'd hate to keep him waiting."

Larry looked unsure. "He has been sneakin' around lately. I guess he could've come in without me seeing."

"I've got an idea," Lois said, piping up from behind Dinah. "How about I go check and if he's here, I'll call you guys." She looked at Larry. "That sound good?"

His eyes roamed over Dinah and Zatanna. "That sounds great."

"I'll go with you," Dinah said quickly.

"Oh I don't think that's-"

"Nonsense," Dinah cut in, "You know how much Jordan likes to see me. Besides, Z-uh, Glinda can stay."

Zatanna shot Dinah a look that could kill.

Without waiting for an answer, Lois shot Zatanna an amused smile and took Dinah by the arm, guiding her down the passage way.

"Glinda?" Lois asked once they had turned the corner.

"As in the good witch," Dinah explained.

"I can't believe you sold us as prostitutes."

"Oh like you've never posed as a hooker to get a story?"

"Hey," Lois said offended, "Strippers are not hookers. They make an honest living…taking off their clothes. How do you know about that anyway?"

"Clark and I have the am shift on Thursdays. Things get quiet."

"I'm going to kill him," Lois muttered.

Dinah laughed silently. "Okay, Ms Lane, where to?"

"Here's the thing. The blue prints for this place show Twist's private office to be down that corridor," she pointed to her left. "But the room he used when I interviewed him was down there," she motioned in the opposite direction. So I'm thinking we split up and grab whatever disks we may find pertaining to this _Icarus_ thing. Look under tables, in cabinets and sometimes these corporate types like to have hidden doors, so bookshelves are a worthwhile bet."

Dinah stared at her with an awed expression. "You are scarily good at this."

Lois shrugged a shoulder. "Comes with the job. Okay, we meet back here in no more than ten minutes, copy what we need to copy, save Glinda from Larry the troll and scram."

Dinah nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Lois made her way down the brightly lit corridor, passing thick metal doors armed with various security gizmos and gadgets. She eyed the camera positioned just above Twist's office and hoped that Zatanna was keeping Larry occupied. Lois dug her access card out of her back pocket and swiped it once causing the big wooden door to click open. She wondered vaguely why the door to Twist's office wasn't packing any heavy facial recognition passwords or the like, but decided not to question her good fortune.

The room was fairly large, though not exorbitantly furnished. Lois was surprised. She expected a man like Jordan Twist to have a bunch of toys and geek-like playthings surrounding him, but the office was minimalist to say the least. After a quick scan of the room, she made her way to the desk but found it empty save for a crystal ornament in the shape of a star. Lois pulled open the drawers and searched for anything which seemed remotely useful, but found only a well-thumbed copy of Plato's 'Republic' inside which was a map which looked strangely familiar. She spread it open on the desk, tracing her fingers over the dotted lines and contours which covered the blue surface until it hit her. It was the exact copy of a map of the solar system, the same one which she'd seen at the Fortress, one which depicted the quadrant where Krypton had once rested. Lois frowned at the map. What the hell was a computer nerd doing with the co-ordinates for an alien planet? She quickly folded up the map and shoved it into her pocket before continuing her search. She scanned the rest of the drawers for the next few minutes, finding little that could be called useful. With a sigh, she checked her watch. It was nearly time to meet Dinah. She was about to leave when a painting on the far wall caught her eye. It was abstract, a golden canvas overshadowed by wisps of black paint-spidery and destructive. Struck by a wave of journalistic intuition, she moved to the picture and placed her fingers below the frame, searching for a switch or a button to reveal whatever might be behind it. Lois smiled and mouthed a silent "yes!" when she found a tiny knob located on the edge. She pressed it, expecting the painting to move aside to split down the middle, but instead the canvas itself seemed to dissolve, indicating that it was a screen and not a painting at all.

Lois stepped back in wonder as the pixels on the screen merged depicting Metropolis with the title, 'Simulation 001'. Suddenly, the image shifted, showing now the same view of the city, only instead of people walking around freely, they were walking in lines with strange box-like devices attached to their backs. Lois frowned at the screen. It looked as if they were reporting for duty, all walking towards the giant building located in the centre of the city- Twist Towers. She slowly inched towards the screen, trying to understand what she was looking at.

"Neat isn't it?"

Lois jumped in fright. Slowly, she turned around to see Jordan Twist standing in the doorway, glaring at her with an ironic smile.

"If I'd have known you were coming, Ms Lane, I would have brought some popcorn. I find films are usually more enjoyable that way."

"Mr. Twist, I was just looking for you. I was hoping I could ask you a few-" she stopped in mid-sentence as Twist super sped towards her in a manner that she's only ever seen Clark or Bart do.

"W-what are you?" she asked, her breath hitching in her throat.

Leaning down, he gently caressed her cheek with his fingers and smiled. "Your worst nightmare."

***

"Bruce, what are you doing?" Clark watched as Bruce removed his glove and dipped his fingers into the water jug on the table. He positioned his hand in front of Chloe's face and proceeded to flick water droplets at her.

"She should have been awake by now, the sedative we gave her-"

"Was strong enough to knock her out for at least another hour." Clark finished. "Look, she's fine. Her vitals are good and as far as we know, everything went well."

"Kent, I know that you're an irrational optimist, but how can you be so sure?"

Clark shrugged. "Because I know myself, Bruce. And I know that if Chloe gave me that message then I'd do everything I could to save the boy."

"What's getting to me is how we'll know. If what I know about the space-time continuum is correct, then this simple act could cause a number of changes-a ripple effect if you will."

"You're saying if Issac is saved then Vartel never kidnaps Cira and none of this happens?"

"Exactly."

Clark sighed, "Well if nothing changes in the next hour, I'm getting Vartel to send me back."

"Wait a minute," Bruce scowled. "You're still thinking of using him? It's insane and incredibly naive, even for you."

"I know that he's troubled-"

"Troubled?! Clark he kidnapped your daughter and sent her to the past! He's implicated in a string of murders and I'm beginning to think that he suffers from extreme personality disorder. I'd say he's more than troubled."

"I know. That's why we still need him." Clark stared at Bruce for a second as if debating whether to let him in on a thought. "Look, I know I might not be 'the world's greatest detective' but I know a thing or two about sniffing out a story, especially a fishy one. I think the key to getting Cira back lies with me going back. There's a reason Vartel was so insistent about me interacting with past me."

"I'm listening," Bruce said.

"When I first spoke to Vartel, then later when Diana interrogated him, he was calm, even cold. He sounded like he was some society gent. He spoke with a slight Bostonian accent and asked me to play Schubert. Then just before you came in, he was different, weaker, and his accent...mid-west."

Bruce looked at Clark, surprised and vaguely impressed. "You think he's switching between personalities?"

Clark nodded.

"It's ingenious," Bruce muttered. "It explains how he was able to avoid speaking of his connection with Twist when Diana questioned him. He truly believed he was working alone. Then just before I threatened him, he reverted back to the man who Twist has been manipulating so easily."

"There's something bigger at work here. Something that goes beyond Vartel's child or mine. Honestly, right now, I couldn't care less. I just to bring Cira home safely. But to do that, I'm starting to think that I need to listen to Vartel."

"It all comes back to Twist," Bruce said. "We should go to him, see what he's up to."

"The girls are on it," Oliver said, walking into the conference room. "How did it go with Chloe?" he asked, motioning to where Chloe was passed out on an ottoman, an IV attached to her arm.

"Nothing unexpected," Bruce replied curtly. "Where did you say 'the girls' are?"

"Lois got some hair brained scheme to infiltrate Twist Towers, don't worry, Dinah and Zee went with her," he said, noting Clark's immediate frown. "I'm surprised we haven't heard from them yet."

"This is bigger than we've anticipated," Bruce said glancing briefly at the sleeping Chloe. "I think we should follow them."

Oliver let out a chuckle. "Man, they'd kick your ass for even implying that they couldn't handle it. I say we wait. See what they come up with."

Clark sighed, "As much as I hate to say it, Oliver's right."

Oliver shot him a mock scowl.

"We should wait" Clark continued, "At least long enough to see what happens in the past. Maybe after I save that bus and stop Issac's murder there'll be no need for action. Maybe it will all sort itself out."

Bruce turned to Clark with a cynical smirk. "I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 13:12**

Lois burst through the bathroom door, laughing and out of breath to find Clark idly leaning against the basin waiting for her as if he had all the time in the world.

"It's not a fair race if you're playing dirty, Smallville!"

He pulled at his mud caked hair and grinned at her, "I'm not the one playing dirty, Lane."

She rolled her eyes at him but struggled to suppress the grin. It was as if all the barriers between them had been torn down and washed away by the rain. They were like two giggly kids high on sugar after an afternoon in the sun. Lois casually walked towards Clark who looked utterly ridiculous covered in drying mud, like war paint. Before she reached him, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, only to realise that she looked no better. In any other situation, with any other guy, Lois would have felt at the very least self-conscious, but this was different, this was Clark 'Smallville' Kent. The fact that she'd just discovered that he was from a galaxy far, far away just acted as an added quirk. That wasn't to say, that she didn't find the whole 'hero' thing unspeakably sexy. In fact, as she sauntered towards him, Lois wondered if it was wrong that she found him even more attractive now that she knew he 'saved lives for a living'. She took particular delight in watching his eyes widen and his throat constrict as he swallowed nervously when she reached past him, allowing her front to just brush his chest. Hiding a smile, she turned the shower on to full blast.

"Smallville," she began, watching him through lowered lashes. "I'm thinking a shower's probably the best idea right about now, so you should probably-"

"Oh, uh, yes. Of-of course." Clark nearly stammered his way out of the bathroom before Lois hooked her fingers under his t-shirt and yanked him towards her. "I was going to say you should probably get these dirty clothes off, but if you want to leave," she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"No, I uh," he gave her a goofy smile, "I think your suggestion's better."

"Damn right it is," she replied, crinkling her nose at him. Lois fisted the material of his shirt and pulled him even closer. She had to remind herself not to sigh like a school girl with a crush as she tugged his shirt over his head, exposing a smooth, rippled chest. He dipped his head down to kiss her but she pulled away suddenly and stared at him with an open, vulnerable expression, "Wait. This-this is real isn't it?"

Clark's mouth tugged into a gentle smile. "If it isn't then it's the best dream I've ever had."

"Good answer," she whispered against his mouth before nipping on his bottom lip and pulling him into a kiss. They walked backwards until Lois was trapped between the bathroom cabinet and Clark's body. Hot, white steam filled the air, creating a thick, heavy mist.

Clark very rarely felt out of control. With his powers, control was something he was very careful to maintain. He usually knew just how hard to push, for fast to go, how high to jump, but now, as he felt Lois' warm writhing body beneath his hands, Clark felt that grip slowly slipping. The scary thing was, he didn't care. For the first time in his adult life, he wanted to let go, to be fully taken over by the feelings-the only sensation he could liken it to was being on Red K-the difference was that he was completely aware of his decisions. He tugged at the fabric of the plaid shirt Lois was wearing and slowly let his hands trail under it, popping the buttons as he went. As his fingers grazed her smooth, silky skin, she let out a moan and urged him further up. Knowing he was in dangerous territory yet unable to stop, Clark moved his hands up to cup her breasts through her bra. Wanting visual accompaniment, he tore off the last button of the shirt and slipped it off her shoulders. Lois threw her head back as he began to kiss along her collar bone, his tongue darting out every few seconds to taste her. Lois arched against him, gasping every time he suckled on her skin. When he reached the swell of her breasts, she shivered in response and dug her nails down his torso, causing him to unconsciously grind against her. When her fingers curled around the waistband of his jeans, Clark's eyes snapped open and he stood up straight, fighting the urge to step away from her.

"You okay?" she asked breathlessly when she saw the consternation clouding his face.

"Yeah, I just..." he ran a hand over his brow. Was it hotter in there than it had been a second before? He moved to turn the taps off, causing the bathroom to become strangely quiet, save for blood pounding in his ears. "I think we should slow down."

"O-okay," she said, obviously confused and a little hurt.

"I want to do this. I do," he said, hoping she didn't glance down and see his physical confirmation of that statement. "It's just that," Clark stared at her suddenly, her hair messy, her one bra-strap sliding off her shoulder, her face flushed, her lips bee-stung and wondered what the hell he done to deserve that. He sighed, "I don't want to hurt you," he said honestly.

Lois' brow knitted. "Smallville is that what this is about?" She reached for him and urged him closer. "C'mere." He came nearer to her. "You won't hurt me," she said confidently. "I trust you. And just between you and me," she stood on her toes and brought her lips provocatively close to his ear, "I have done this before."

He looked down uncomfortably. "I haven't."

She looked confused. "I thought you said you and Lana-"

"We did," he cut in, not wanting her to finish the sentence. The conversation was awkward enough as it was. "But I had lost my powers for a time, so I was...human."

"And after you two never...Wow," she said when Clark shook his head. He chose not to mention the incident when Lana had gained his powers and consequently pushed her through a window.

"So you're afraid that you'll...lose control and what? Crush me or something?"

Clark averted her eyes, ashamed. Tenderly, Lois reached out and cupped his jaw, willing him to look at her. "Smallville, don't let this incredibly hot and feminine exterior fool you. I'm a lot tougher than I look. And most importantly, I trust you. Now trust me."

He looked at her with an inkling of hope. "You'll tell me if things get too rough?"

Lois smirked at him. "You mean bad rough, right?"

Clark rolled his eyes at her, amused at her ability to make him smile despite whatever craziness was surrounding him.

"Besides," she continued, walking her fingers up his abdomen. "We can take it slow. I like slow. Much more time for-"

"Daddy look what I drawed!"

Lois and Clark turned to the door with a look of shared horror as Cira stood grinning at them, oblivious to their embarrassment. Lois shoved Clark off her as Cira practically skipped towards them, holding a picture up, completely unaffected by their state of undress. "Look Daddy! Look!"

"Uh," Clark reached out and took the picture from her. "It's pretty." Cira looked from Clark to Lois.

"You can see too Mommy," she grabbed the page out of Clark's hands and thrust it at Lois. "It's us at the park. See?"

Lois squinted at the smiling stick figures on the page. There was a tall one with dark hair, a shorter figure in a skirt and a smaller figure holding a stuffed animal standing next to what Lois initially thought to be a horse then realised was probably a dog. "It's great," she said with forced enthusiasm.

"Why are you all dirty?" Cira asked spying Lois' discarded shirt. "Daddy you've got dirt in your hair. Yuck! I hope you're going to clean yourself up, Mr. and don't forget to wash behind your ears." she said with a tone Clark was sure she'd inherited from Martha.

Clark laughed despite himself. "I'll do my best."

"Daddy, my pink pencil broke. Can you fix it for me? Mommy said I'm not allowed to use the sharpener on account of what happened with her pens that one time." She shot Lois an innocent smile.

Clark looked back at Lois with a mixture of longing and resignation. She gave him a little smile and shrugged. He turned back to Cira. "You run ahead and I'll be there in a second, okay?"

"Okay but hurry, Daddy. I've got to draw the penguin and I can't if I don't have my pink pencil. Cause he's a pink penguin," she said before skipping out of the room.

"And this is why I will wait four years before having that kid."

"I can't believe we forgot about her," Clark said. He raised an eyebrow when Lois turned shower on. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a shower…Alone." She clarified when his mouth tugged into a smile.

"You've got daughter duty and I…well I have to find some way to work off all this tension." Teasingly, she entered the spray, pulled the curtain shut and tossed her bra out at him.

"You're killing me, Lane." he called to her through the steam.

Smirking, she stuck her head out of the curtain. "I thought we were taking it slow?"

Clark watched a bead of water trail down her neck and disappear. "There's slow and then there's torture."

"It's not my fault our daughter took a Greyhound from the future and decided to-"

Clark glanced at his watch suddenly. "1: 28," he said aloud-just over half an hour until he needed to save that bus. Between confiding in Lois and kissing Lois, he's completely forgotten about what Chloe had said.

"Lois, you'd better make your shower a quick one," he said glancing back at his watch. "There's something I need to tell you."

_________________________________________________


	12. Twisted

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone for their awesome comments on the last chapter. It was a difficult one to write, so I'm pleased that everyone liked it:) Things are really starting to move quickly now, so I can't wait to read what you think about these next few...

Special mention - **beam me up:** since you posted as an anonymous reviewer, I was unable to respond to your very detailed and interesting review. It was spot on in many ways, I'd really like to send you a longer reply, so next time, log in and I'll be able to do just that ;)

Okay, though not as long as the last chapter, I hope you all like this one :)

**Chapter 12 – Twisted**

**Sunday, November 13, 2011 – 03:51**

Lois was running. Fast. Down an endless corridor, passing distorted reflections of herself, mocking her from the mirrors which lined the walls. She was running towards the green light and the end of the corridor, towards the shrill cry of a baby and the shatter of glass. Suddenly, the room appeared before her. She charged inside, ready to fight, to do what needed to be done. But he was already on the ground, his chest covered in blood. Behind him, stood his reflection, not recoiling in pain but reaching out for her, desperately trying to grab her hand. "Clark, hold on," she yelled. "Just hold on. I won't let anything happen to you." She reached towards him but he began to fade, slowly, slowly until he resembled a spectre, a memory of what was. "NO!" she yelled, trying again and again to grip onto his incorporeal frame. "Stay with me," Lois cried, tears now running down her cheeks. "Stay with me!"

"LOIS!"

She bolted up, the sound of her name ringing in her ears along with the echo of her own scream. "Lois, are you okay?" Clark wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. "You're trembling. What's wrong?"

She blinked in the dark, trying to orient herself. She turned to Clark and buried her face in his chest, revelling in the secure, solid warmth. "I-I had the dream again," she whispered. "The one where I can't get to you in time and you're shot and then...you leave me."

"Shh," he soothed, running his fingers through her hair. "It wasn't real."

"Clark," she looked up at him. "It felt real. You were fading away and I couldn't...I couldn't-"

He took her hand guided it to his face then to his heart. "See? I'm here. I'm safe. And I'm not going anywhere - you're stuck with me, Lane," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Besides, after all that champagne you drank at dinner I'm not surprised your brain's rebelling."

"I guess that fifth glass was a bad idea," she agreed.

Clark chuckled. "As far an engagement parties go, I think ours was a hit. I mean, you didn't even feel the need to stand up and give an inappropriate speech of any kind. That's progress."

"I think my father took care of that," she said, cringing at the memory of the General telling everyone how pleased and relieved he was that Lois found a nice young man to settle down with rather than getting knocked up by one of those scumbags she would bring home as a teenager.

Clark yawned and Lois nuzzled her face in his neck; breathing in the smell of her berry soap she'd lathered him with during their shower earlier. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's okay," he replied, lightly kissing the top of her head. "Hey, you want me to heat up some milk for you? I can make it the way you like with honey."

"Thanks, Smallville, but I think I'm good." She snuggled closer against him. "Can we just lie here for while? Just like this?"

Clark tightened his hold on her. "Yeah, we can do that."

Lois closed her eyes and let herself be enveloped by her fiancé, safe in the knowledge that he wasn't going anywhere soon.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 13:22**

"Let me go!"

"You're not going anywhere, Miss Lane. At least not anytime soon." Jordan Twist circled the chair that Lois was tied to. He watched her fight against the ropes and chuckled lightly. "Don't bother. Those are made with titanium thread. Even your husband would have to strain a little to get those off."

"W-what does Clark have to do with this?" Lois asked.

"Please don't insult me. Superman may have the world fooled with his mild-mannered reporter cover, but a Kryptonian always knows his own kind."

"Kryptonian," Lois echoed. "Who are you?"

"I believe the more accurate question would be what am I? Currently, I am human, or at least in possession of a human vessel." He held out his hands and turned them over, studying them intently. "I find Jordan Twist to be an adequate host. His brain capacity exceeded my expectations, which is something which rarely occurs on this miserable planet. In my purest form, I am artificial intelligence, an assembly of Kryptonian nanotechnology." Twist, or what used to be Twist crouched in front of Lois. "Forgive me; I forget that your limited mental ability finds it difficult to comprehend this technological jargon. Simply put, I am what your husband and his merry band of heroes refer to as the Brain Interactive Construct."

"You're Brainiac," Lois breathed.

"Spot on, Miss Lane. We never did have the pleasure of meeting during my previous encounters with those near and dear to you. It's about time, don't you think."

"What I think, is that if you don't let me go, Superman is going to kick your artificially intelligent ass all the way back to whatever flash drive you crawled out of. Tell me, how many times has he defeated you again? Seems to me that someone with your great intellect would have figured out a way to beat him by now."

Twist's eye twitched at her comment. "On this pathetic excuse for a planet, brawn has been known to overpower brains."

"Or maybe he's just managed to outsmart you. Time and time again." Twist's hand was suddenly around her throat, fingers threatening to tighten. Lois gulped.

"There is nothing and no-one more intelligent than I. Not human nor program and certainly not Krypton's bastard son. I do not take lightly to your insinuation." Slowly, he released his hold.

"I could scream," she said hoarsely. "He'd be here in a second and you'll be sorry that you ever-" she stopped short when Twist reached for the crystal star on his desk and tapped it twice. Suddenly, it turned from clear crystal to green rock.

"Neat isn't it? I invented it myself. I call it Morphamite. A property capable of mimicking any substance from any of the known galaxies. Gold, titanium, hydrodox...kryptonite. It's been very useful for replenishing Mr. Twist's vaults after his financers backed out. Then again, they proved useful too. Although I was quite disappointed to find out that the cranial fluid of the obscenely rich measured no differently to that of the common vagrant. Pity."

"You killed those government officials," Lois surmised.

"Well technically, Thomas Vartel killed them. But I plotted their demise, yes, just like I plotted the wonderful way in which this is all playing out. How is your daughter by the way?"

"You sonofabitch!" she yelled, kicking and writhing in the chair in an attempt to cause Twist some serious harm. "You did this. You're behind it all. Why?"

Twist gave a little self-satisfied laugh. "Finally, Miss Lane, you ask the question I've been waiting for. Why." He leaned back against his desk and appraised her for a second. "I found the brain of Jordan Twist to be littered with all kinds of useful information," he began. "You see, after years on your planet, I never quite understood the concept of popular culture until my possession of Mr. Twist. He was what some might crudely call a 'geek' although there was a certain genius behind his social retardation. See, I've been studying Jordan Twist's rather extensive collection of Digital Versatile Disks, particularly those entitled 'James Bond'." Twist smiled in remembrance. "Though utterly implausible and heinously unrealistic, I found them to be surprisingly informative. What struck me was consistent propensity of the antagonist to confess his master plan before its culmination. This I found was the major flaw in the plot. So to answer your question, Lois would be very foolish of me, and I am not known for being foolish."

"For someone so dead set on not saying anything, you sure talk a lot." Lois' eyes darted to the office door. "Also, I think if you paid a little more attention to those films, you'd know that despite how much they say or don't say, the bad guys always lose."

Suddenly, the door burst open, as Zatanna and Dinah rushed in. "Dnuob Tuohtiw Epacse!"

Before Twist could react, the ropes around Lois untangled themselves and flew towards Twist, binding him tightly. Zatanna raised her finger towards him, causing him to levitate.

"You think you've won?" he yelled, fighting against the chains. "This is far from-"

"Piz Ti!" Zatanna yelled and suddenly a layer of skin began to grow over Twist's mouth, rendering speech impossible. "That's better, she said with a satisfied nod. Dinah ran over to Lois.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said straightening her clothing. "Peachy. Nice to have the backup though," she looked at Zatanna. "How'd you know that would work?"

Zatanna shrugged. "Clark's susceptible to magic so we figured Twist's Kryptonian make-up would be too." She looked over at the struggling figure. "Guess we were right."

"So you know that he's-"

"Brainiac," Dinah finished. "Zee saw your little interaction on the security monitors while entertaining Larry."

We would have come earlier, but we thought we'd see how much he'd say before-"

"You saved my skin," Lois interjected with a wry smile.

"Something like that." Dinah looked over at Twist and narrowed her eyes. "So what now?"

"Now," Lois said looking the Morphamite rock, "We call the boys."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 13:37**

"Okay, now arms up."

Cira stretched her arms above her head as if she were trying to touch the ceiling.

Clark stared at her intently as he x-rayed her body, from fingertips to toes.

"Hey Daddy, when we're done with yogurt, can we look for Bernie some more?" she asked turning around glancing back at Clark.

"Sure," he said, not really listening. "Whatever you want, sweetheart."

Cira sighed and dropped her arms. "I'm tired now and I think there's a bug crawling on my knee. Daddy, I want cotton candy. Can we get some? Where's grandma? Is she visiting Mr. Hubbard again? Cause last time you got all quiet and Mommy had to go talk to you in the car. She said you were thinkin' bout Grampa Jonathan. She said sometimes you get sad cause he can't play with you anymore." Cira put her little hands on Clark's cheeks and looked him in the eye. "I'm glad you're here to play with me, Daddy. Can we call Grandma? I want to show her my penguin. "

The few sentences that he was able to make sense of almost made his heart stop. His mother and Ben Hubbard? It couldn't be...could it? He decided that Cira must have been confused. He picked her up and held her high above his head, eliciting a squeal of delight. "I'm glad I'm here to play with you too, Cira." He brought her down and set her on the floor. "I'm so glad I got to meet you," he said, crouching down in front of her. She wriggled her nose at him playfully.

"I'm glad I got to meet you to."

She glanced up as Lois came down the stairs, fresh from the shortest shower of her life. "Mommy, yogurt is hard," she complained. "Uncle Ollie said it makes you strong but it made my arms feel like spaghetti."

"It's called yoga, not yogurt, Tinkerbelle."

Cira frowned. "Nah-uh. I think you're confused, Mommy. You should check your facts," she said decidedly.

Clark, still crouched on the ground looked up at her and bit back a chuckle. "That's rule number 6, Lois."

Lois slapped the back of Clark's head. "I guess we can be grateful she inherited my journalistic talents and not yours, Smallville. So, is she clean?"

He nodded. "Yeah, there's nothing on her."

She held out Cira's dress. "What about this?"

Clark took it from her and held it out. Lois watched as his eyes travelled over the material as if seeing right through it. "There," he said softly. He placed his fingers in the lacy collar and removed a tiny silver bead embedded in the material.

"That's it?" Lois asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Are you sure it isn't just a big piece of lint?"

Clark held it between his thumb and forefinger. "I can see the mechanisms inside. Give me your hand."

She eyed him cautiously. "It isn't going to explode or anything is it?"

"Future Chloe said it's harmless unless you're time-travelling. Come on, feel this."

Lois extended her hand, wondering why that sentence seemed so normal. Clark took her hand and placed the tiny ball in her palm.

"It's vibrating," she said softly. "Weird." She looked up to see Clark watching her with what she could only describe as 'the Clark Kent puppy dog eyes'.

"Yeah, weird."

Lois bit her lip and looked down shyly. A casual observer would find it hard to believe that it was less than twenty minutes before that they were tearing at each other's clothing in an attempt to get naked. A strange tension seemed to settle between them, as neither knew quite how to proceed.

"I don't get it," Lois remarked, as the temporal disturbance detector rolled back into Clark's palm.

"Don't get what?"

"This. The fact that it was this easy. I mean, what's the point of attaching this thing to her if all we had to do was find it and remove it?"

Clark looked back at Cira who had resumed colouring in her pink penguin.

"I'm starting to think that sending her here, that all this is part something bigger. I don't know what it is yet, but Chloe said they're working on it. Or we are, in the future. I guess things will become clearer after I stop that bus."

Clark looked up at the clock on the wall. _13:42_. It was almost time.

"God, can you imagine what we're going through," Lois said, looking at Cira as she knit her brow in concentration. "I mean, to have her and love her and then to have her taken away by some psychopath. It just seems so unbelievably-"

"Cruel." Clark finished for her.

For a second they just watched their daughter in shared silence.

"That's my kid," Lois muttered, more to herself than anyone else. "Our daughter." She looked up at Clark suddenly then just as abruptly averted her eyes.

He frowned. "I know that look. What's wrong, Lois?"

"Nothing...I just..." she sighed. "You don't feel like we're cheating a little?" She motioned towards Cira. "You know, jumping the gun? Counting our chickens before they crack?"

"Hatch."

"Whatever."

"Lois, we didn't ask for this glimpse into our future. It's a little startling, I admit, but-"

"So you don't think that we're together because we feel that we have to be?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Clark looked hurt. "Everything that happened between us happened because I wanted it to, Lois. I guess I assumed you felt the same way."

"I did," she sighed, "I do. Look, never mind," she brushed it off. "Hey isn't there a bus out there somewhere with your name on it?"

Clark glanced at the clock. "I suppose I should go." He looked down at her. "So, I'm going..."

Lois bit her lip awkwardly. "Well, good luck," she looked at him for a second, unsure, then punched him arm in a lame attempt to alleviate the tension.

He looked from his arm to her face then nodded. "Okay, well..."

"Smallville, wait!" Lois cried, just as he was about take off.

He stopped in mid-blur and looked her expectantly. "Lois?"

She sighed and took a step closer to him. "Look, I haven't gotten my copy of 'Dating Superheroes for Dummies' yet, so this is all kind of new to me. I just...I want you to promise me that you'll be careful out there. You may have been doing this hero thing for a while, but it feels like we're just starting out and it would be nice if you didn't, you know, die." She looked at him with an open, vulnerable expression that made him want to pull her close and never let go. "I guess what I'm saying is, if anything happened to you...well that would kind of suck."

"Lois, I don't plan on staying away from you for any longer than I have to." He reached out and gently touched her check. "We've got time."

She nodded firmly and bit her lip in an effort to quell the emotion building up inside of her.

Clark shot her a little smile that caused her heart to skip a beat. "See you around, Miss Lane."

And then he was gone in a whoosh of wind. Lois stood rooted in the same spot after he left, a million thoughts buzzing around in her head. It was only after a couple of seconds that she looked down to realise Cira was standing besides her, staring off into the distance with a similar star-struck expression. "There he goes again," the five-year old said softly, using the phrase she'd heard her mother utter so often. Lois stared down at her, amused. "Guess I'm going to have to get used to it."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 14:00**

"I'm telling you man, you should think about it." Oliver leaned back in his chair. "You could customise the voice and everything. I mean, personally I'd go for a female voice, but whatever floats your bat boat is cool."

Bruce sighed. "Queen, this may be hard for you to comprehend, but I have no desire to turn the Batmobile into my best friend. It's a mode of transport, a tool."

"Have you even seen 'Knight Rider?"Oliver asked with a disgusted expression.

Clark looked at the clock at the wall and sighed oblivious to the banter going on around him.

"I don't really have time for television." Bruce responded drily.

"Well maybe if you got out of that musty old cave and started living in the-" _BZZZZ_

All three men looked down as their transcoms buzzed, indicating an incoming message from Black Canary. Oliver attached the receiver to his ear. "This is Green Arrow, come in pretty bird."

Oliver nodded at whatever Dinah said through his receiver. "Affirmative. ETA, four minutes."

"They're at the Towers?" Bruce asked, adjusting his mask over his face.

Oliver nodded, reaching for his pack. "Dinah said we should get there ASAP. Apparently they've managed to capture Twist."

"And?"

"She didn't say any more. Guess we'll find out when we get there." Oliver looked over at Clark. "You flying or joining us in the jet?"

"I'm not coming with you," he said.

Bruce followed Clark's gaze to the clock on the wall. "You want to stay here until your past self completes the mission."

Clark turned to him. "I have to know. Look, go on without me, it'll be any time now."

"What if nothing changes?" Bruce asked. "We have work to do _here_. There are things within our control that we should prioritise."

"Just give me a couple of more minutes," Clark said. "If nothing changes...I'll be right behind you."

Bruce's slate grey eyes narrowed into slits. "Green Arrow can go alone. I'll wait here with you."

"No," Clark argued. "They need back-up. Go with Oliver."

Oliver sighed. "Look, we need to leave. So if you two are done with your little spat-"

"Come, on," Bruce said, walking past him and out of the room.

"Oliver," Clark called out before he could follow Batman. "Tell Lois I'll see her soon okay?"

Oliver stared at him for a second before nodding. "She'll hold you too that, Clark. Make sure it's the truth." Then he walked out, leaving Clark alone with the ticking clock.

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 14:01**

Clark stood on the side of the bridge, gazing down the wet-slicked road for any sign of on-coming traffic. The roads were quiet, even for a Sunday afternoon. Two cars and a motorbike had passed since he'd arrived, but no sign of the bus. Suddenly a drop of water grazed his nose, followed by another and another until it was steadily drizzling. He sighed as his clothes began to cling to his body. So much for the glamorous life of a superhero.

Clark ran his hand through his hair only to find it was still clumpy with bits of mud. His mouth tugged into a smile as he replayed that afternoon's events. The past two days seemed entirely surreal. Some perverse part of him wanted to pinch himself to see if he'd wake up, but he decided against it, thinking that if he was in a dream, he'd rather not wake up just yet. He fought the sudden and overwhelming urge to laugh. Despite the precariousness of the situation, despite the fact that he was standing in the rain waiting for a murderer, despite the thought that somewhere, in time and space his future self was going through hell, Clark Kent wanted to laugh. It was like a something bubbling deep inside of him, something that if he were forced to name, he'd probably call happiness. It was as if he'd been living with blinkers on, blind to anything but his isolation. He thought he had given up on the whole notion of romantic love that day on the rooftop, when a psychopath had taken away what he thought to be his only chance at it. But thinking about Lois, about what he felt when he was with her, Clark realised that he'd never truly been open to loving someone the way he loved her. For a second, he recalled what it felt like to be shot, first by Gabriel Duncan then by Oliver's arrows. Loving Lois felt something like that. It was a fast, hard knock to the system, something that he should have seen coming but still caught him by surprise. Yet instead of the intense pain, this feeling, though just as visceral, was euphoric. Instead of making him weak, it made him feel stronger, more confident in his abilities and who he was. He felt a shiver run through him as he recalled the look in her eyes the moment before he kissed her. There was excitement, anticipation, but above all, trust-something he'd never come to expect yet craved more than he realised. She trusted him, unfailingly. He'd once told his parents that Alicia had made him feel normal and special at the same time and that was why he loved her. Somehow Lois managed to do that without meteor abilities or a power suit, or some deep embedded hero-worship. Lois managed to do that just by looking at him. For the first time in his life, he could love without restraint.

As if on cue, a lightning bolt blazed down from the heavens and hit a rotting tree trunk on the side of the river bank. The log trembled in the wind and eventually crashed into the river, causing the rushing current to build up behind it. As the water on one side rise higher and higher, it threatened to flood the bank, which would inevitably flood the adjacent road.

Without hesitation, Clark pulled off his red jacket and tossed it into the road before jumping off the bridge and into the raging river. The water, though fast moving was not much more than waist deep. Steeling himself against the currents, he crouched beside the tree truck and lifted it above his head before tossing it back onto the bank as if it were no heavier than a twig. Over the rush of water, Clark suddenly heard the low rumble of a heavy vehicle on the bridge above.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. He looked up. The bus, a sleek Greyhound travelling smoothly on the wet road suddenly swerved to miss the bright red object lying directly in its path. It skidded across the bridge and turned sharply, narrowly missing a car coming up behind it. Clark gathered up his energy and bent low, like a spring, coiled before release. Suddenly, he let go and leapt into the air, landing just behind the swerving bus. Straining forward, he held on to the side, digging his fingers into the cold, wet metal. It creaked under the tension, but he held on, pulling back from the edge until all the wheels were safely down. Clark ran over to the side of the bus and peered in. The driver, a short, stout man in his fifties looked like he was about to pass out.

"Sir, are you alright?"

The driver looked behind him and nodded. "Yeah, we're all fine. But what in the Sam-hill happened? I thought were goners for sure."

Clark cleared his throat. "The uh-wind must have knocked you back. It's a velocity thing."

"Well thank god for that," he replied, squinting at Clark. "How'd you get here so fast anyway?"

"I was running, uh...jogging," he said quickly. "I saw what happened."

"Good man. The name's Earl." Earl stuck put his hand.

"Clark." Clark motioned to the inside of the bus. He couldn't see anything beyond the driver's seat, but was prepared to pull out the man in the grey hoodie once he walked off the platform. Clark decided he would follow him and wait. If Chloe was right, he would lead Clark to the son of the man who sent Cira to them. He would stop the murder and make sure that the murderer was apprehended. "You should get all of them out of there, at least until the wheels can be replaced."

Earl laughed. "There's only a dozen of 'em, but I guess you're right. Bet these boys thought they'd seen the end. Some of 'em deserved it, let me tell you."

Clark frowned, not understanding his meaning until twelve men began to file out of the bus, each of them wearing hospital tags, each of them in dark peak caps, each of them wearing grey hoodies."

"They're patients," Earl said, noticing Clark's confusion. "Nutters from B.R."

Clark stared at all of them, feeling anxiety wash over him. "Where are they being transported?"

"Construction site over in Metropolis. They're allowed out for good behaviour. Work skills for when they're better. Though if you ask me," Earl leaned in closer. "Some of 'em are beyond help." Clark watched as two large men in uniforms escorted the last few patients out. One of the men pulled out a phone and began to call for assistance. He guessed they were security from Belle Reve. Clark sighed, utterly at a loss for what to do. He supposed he could follow the bus and the patients or interview them one by one in an attempt to find out their intentions, but somehow, as he watched one man flap his arms like wings and lean over the edge of the bridge, Clark guessed that wouldn't be particularly helpful.

Suddenly, one of the patients walked up to him. He was a tall man with long blonde hair and a tattoo on his neck. "Hey kid, c'mere."

Clark looked at the security guards, but one was one the phone and the other was trying desperately to calm one of the other patients.

"Kid, I got a question for ya."

Clark approached him slowly.

"You uh, you got a light?" 'V' asked, coming nearer to Clark.

"Hey, leave the man alone," another patient, tall and slightly gaunt looking, spoke up.

"Shut up, Al," V yelled, his eyes focused on Clark.

"Hey boy, what you looking at?" V asked, his tone suddenly higher. "You never seen a mental before? That's the look Sarah used to give me. Before she threw me in this dump."

"Get away from him, V." Tiny called out. "Don't do any thing stupid."

All three men glanced at the guards who were still preoccupied.

"You ever been to Smallville, kid?"

"I'm from Smallville," Clark answered. "I grew up here."

"So you know Sarah Vincent?"

Clark shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I don't."

"So you can take me too her, right?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who that is, I was just hoping to ask you a couple of questions."

"Why? You a cop?" V's eyes bulged suddenly. "Cause I told them, I never meant to hurt her. I just wanted to look into his eyes. And you wanna know a secret?" He motioned for Clark to come closer.

Suddenly, he leapt at Clark, holding his neck in a vice-like grip. If Clark had been any other man, he would have been seriously hurt. But he wasn't. As voices yelled and the guards rushed over, Clark pulled V off him and tossed him to the ground. Clark looked him up and down, x-raying his body just as V pulled the gun out of his sock.

"Watch out!" Al suddenly ran in front of Clark, blocking him from fire. In the blink of an eye, Clark reached out and plucked the bullet from the air before it could hit Al. Then the guards were on V, pinning him down and cuffing him.

"I wasn't gonna hurt him," V yelled as they shuffled him into the bus. "I swear, I wasn't gonna hurt him. I just wanted a bit of fun. Just a bit of fun."

Clark looked down at his hand. The bullet that lay in his palm suggested otherwise. He reached down and offered his hand to the man lying in his path. Al took it gratefully.

They watched as the guards shuffled V back into the bus.

"What are you going to do with him?" Clark asked.

"He's going back to a padded cell. He won't be able to hurt anyone." the guard answered. "You okay?"

"Thanks to him, I will be," he said, referring to Al.

Al shrugged. "I believe in karma." He nodded once at Clark then walked away, humming as he went.

Clark used his x-ray vision to see into the bus. V was cuffed and supervised. There was no way he would be able to hurt anyone else. He walked over to the guard that handcuffed V. "What will happen to the rest of them?"

The guard sighed. "There's no way we're taking them to Metropolis now. The bigwigs will have our asses when they find out about this. I don't know how that nut-job got that gun past security but I'm guessing he wasn't working alone. We'll pack them up and send them back to their cells."

Clark exhaled deeply. He'd saved the bus and stopped the bad guy. Everything was about to change. He just wished he knew how.

* * *


	13. Close to the Sun

**A/N: Hey all! **

I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Thank you for all your feedback!! As always, I love hearing from you, so keep it coming :)

I'm posting this chapter early in the hope that you won't hate me toooo much for the break I'm going to be taking between this one and the the next one. If all goes according to my evil plan, I'll have chapter 14 up by the end of the month. Hopefully that's not too long a wait. I hope this ties you over until then. It's quite meaty, so you know, if the wait gets too long, you could always read it twice :)

Here you go:

**Chapter 13 – Close to the Sun**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 14:30**

Clark watched as the last of the men filed into the bus. The guards gave him a final salute before the hydraulic doors hissed shut and the newly fixed vehicle reversed and turned back in the direction it came. Clark let out a sigh. He'd done it. He'd saved the bus, stopped V from escaping and the murder from ever happening. He'd just changed the course of the future. Or, at least he thought he did. Clark frowned suddenly. Future! Chloe's instructions had been had been pretty clear, but she'd been awfully vague about what happened after. He leaned back against the side of the railing. If he just stopped the murder from happening, then the man who kidnapped Cira wouldn't have a reason to do so, which meant that she would never have been sent to them which prevented the moment that he was in from happening. Yet, there he was, standing on the bridge, contemplating the complexities of time-travel. Clark's heart suddenly sank to his stomach. If Cira never came to the past, then none of what happened with Lois really happened. Would they even be at the farm when he got back? He looked down and watched as the bus disappeared down the long stretch of road until it was nothing more than a speck. Clark swallowed hard. There was only one way to make sure.

It took just over 1.7 seconds for him to speed home. His heart was pounding as he blurred into the empty kitchen. He looked around frantically, searching for signs of their presence. The table where Cira had been drawing was clear, the pan that they'd used for breakfast was packed away, Lois' bag was off the couch. It was like they were never there. Clark felt his world crumble. It was like waking from a dream, a really, really good dream.

"Lois!" He walked through the house, calling desperately. "Lois?! Cira?" He was met by Shelby's plaintive whine as the dog nuzzled against his leg. Clark collapsed on the couch in despair. They were gone. He felt lost and more alone than he'd ever imagined he could be. He leaned forward and hung his head in his hands. He hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye to his daughter. And Lois…would she remember or would they go back to being friends/co-workers? He was about to get up when he felt something poking into his back. Reaching behind him, Clark pulled a rectangular object out from under the couch cushion. On closer inspection, he realised it was a phone…Lois' phone. Slowly, hope began to seep into through him. Perhaps it wasn't all lost, perhaps-

"Smallville, what's with all the yelling?" Lois walked through the front door with a bunch of CD's in her hand. Before she could blink, the CD's were scattered on the floor and she was in Clark's arms, her feet dangling off the ground as he threatened to crush her with the intensity of his embrace. Clark buried his face in her neck and breathed in soap. Soap she'd used in her shower earlier. It wasn't a dream or a memory or a sick joke. She was here, it had happened.

Lois giggled suddenly and tried to push his head away. "Smallville, that tickles! God, what's gotten into you?"

"I just…" he pulled back slightly but still held on to her. "I missed you."

Lois raised her eyebrow, puzzled but not disappointed. "Okay. I take it your little mission was successful?"

Gently, he lowered her, but kept his hands firmly on her waist. "Actually, I'm not sure. I did what Chloe asked, but…I don't know, I thought it would change things. Where's Cira?"

Lois looked up. "Jumping on your bed last I checked. I wanted to use your pc so we moved the party upstairs." She inclined her head towards the kitchen. "See, we even cleaned up."

Clark breathed a sigh of relief. "It nearly gave me a heart attack."

She scoffed. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it." Noting his expression, Lois reached out and gently smoothed away the frown line denting his forehead. "Hey, you okay?"

He nodded but tugged at her hips, bringing her closer. "For a second I thought I might have erased this. You, me, Cira. I thought I'd lost it all."

Lois braced her hands on his chest. "This thing, this you and me thing? Something tells me it's hard to lose. Even through time."

Clark leaned towards her and captured her lips with his. The kiss was soft and sweet, both of them giving, neither demanding. Lois allowed herself to be enveloped by him as he drew her close, revelling in the feel of her warm body against his. When Clark pulled away, he was smiling. "You found the ice-cream," he murmured and nipped at her bottom lip. "Rocky Road?"

She shook her head. "Chocolate Deluxe. From our last movie night."

He chuckled, "I knew I should have hidden it further back."

"Daddy!! Daddy!! The carnival's here! I heard them say!" They both turned to see Cira bounding down the stairs. She leapt into Clark's arms in excitement. "Daddy, I wanna go! I wanna go on the tea cups like last time! Please Daddy?! Pleeeease!?"

"Wait, honey, slow down." Lois said. "Just because it was on the TV doesn't mean it's near here."

Cira sighed impatiently. "No, Mommy, I heard the man say it was here. He was talking on a mica phone."

Lois frowned. "What do you mean you heard him? You mean on the radio?"

Cira looked at Clark who nodded his head encouragingly. "No, I heard him in my head," she said softly. "My head got all loud like sometimes and it didn't feel very good cause I could heard too much stuffs all around, but then I heard the man talk about cotton candy so I just thoughted about the cotton candy, I concentrated like Daddy taughted me and I heard him say that the tickets are only two dollars, so can we go? Can we? Pleeeeeeease?" She looked from Lois to Clark expectantly.

Lois looked like she was about to faint. "Clark?"

"Yes Lois?"

"She's got your powers hasn't she?"

Clark looked from Cira to Lois with a sheepish expression. "Yes, Lois."

"Oh boy."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 14:22**

"Brainiac." Bruce's voice was low and dangerous. "I should have known." The Twist possessed Brainiac hung his head and glared at Batman.

"Doesn't say much does he?" Oliver said, throwing a glance at Twist's suspended form.

Zatanna raised her finger. "I can take care of that."

"Wait," Lois stepped forward. "Is this going to hurt him?"

Zatanna nodded. "Probably."

"Good."

She cleared her throat and said loudly, "SA SIHT ESRUC FO ENIM SI NEKORB TEL YLNO SDROW FO HTURT EB NEKOPS!" All except Bruce flinched squeamishly as the flesh covering Twist's mouth began to bubble and melt away. When all of the skin had disappeared, he licked his lips a couple of times and contorted his mouth.

"Much better." He looked down at them with a smug expression. "So nice to see you again, Batman."

"The pleasure is not mutual, I assure you," Bruce sneered. "Why are you here?"

Brainiac's smile turned nasty. "Straight to the point. I'm here because I have a goal, a plan. One which when culminated will revolutionize this pathetic excuse for a planet."

There was something absurd about the image of him up there - the long, gawky body of Jordan Twist, dangling in mid-air, his spectacles askew, his hair plastered to his forehead as he sweated in the musty office. If not for the quiet menace of his voice coupled with his history, Lois and the four members of the League would have found it difficult to take his threat seriously. Yet they did.

"What's the plan?" Oliver asked, suggestively polishing an arrow as he spoke.

"Where's Superman?" Twist countered with a glint in his eye. "I so wanted to chat with him."

"He's safe." Bruce said. "You on the other hand are drifting dangerously close to the edge."

"Oh, please," Twist smirked down at them. "I'm very aware of your no-murder policy. A very foolish one, I must say, for how can there be true justice without sacrifice? "

"Oh, you'll find there are things worse than death," Bruce clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Oh, but I am aware, Batman. You see," he glanced around the room at all of them. "In all my time on this planet, I failed to understand the complexity of human emotions. What I foresaw as weakness I now realize may also act as strength." His eyes fell on Lois. "And so I used it my advantage. I capitalised on the one thing a machine could never fully understand – human love and emotion. An odd phenomenon, yet surprisingly durable. I'm sure Cira would agree, Miss Lane."

"Don't you dare say her name, you overgrown nanobyte!"

Twist scoffed. "Anger, another disgusting human trait. How predictable you are."

"So about this plan," Dinah spoke up. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

"What makes you think I would-"

"KAEPS!" Zatanna called from the back of the room.

Suddenly Twist's eyes bulged in surprise as his mouth began to move, apparently of its own accord. "My consciousness first became aware of Jordan Twist during my unfortunate association with Lex Luthor. Twist's research was funded by LexCorp until he managed to find government backing. By then, I was already free of Luthor's control and sought a new host. I was intrigued by Twist's ideas. He was developing computer hardware which absorbed solar radiation as a power source. His plan was ingenious. Twist knew that the amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources. He planned on using it to power high energy orbital satellites."

"How would this benefit you?" Oliver asked.

Twist attempted to bite his lip to keep from speaking, but it threatened to tear from his mouth. As blood dripped down his chin, he whimpered and eventually gave in. "For years, I have been drawn to this planet, to the potential it held. The great General Zod planned on taking it as his own; I wanted to continue his work, turn this sorry rock into a place from which gods could rule, waited upon by mortal minions."

"That's what I saw on the screen," Lois said. They all turned to look at her. "He has this screen showing Metropolis; only it looks more like a Metropocalypse. And there are all these people, walking like...slaves."

"That's ambitious," Bruce commented. "Even for you."

"Not if I had unlimited power. The power of a super man."

"What does Superman have to do with this?" Dinah asked.

"Solar energy," Bruce surmised. "You want to harness his Kryptonian make-up as a source."

Twist smiled a wide, bloody smile. "You are smart...for a homo sapien. Yes, I am going to steal Superman's genetic make-up and adapt it with my own. I have already taken control of Twist's software now all I need is the power source. Can you imagine it? Not only will I have an unlimited supply of power, but I will never need to recharge. Milton Fine, Lex Luthor, all these men, these feeble beings required rest. They were subject to harm and death, but to be powered by the sun's petawatts, I would need no host. I would be a ghost programme, capable of infiltrating every piece of technology on this planet, from military satellites to hearing aids. I will simultaneously be in every house in every corner of the world, a conscious, cognisant artificial intelligence.

"Yeah, okay, you'd be powerful, we get it," Oliver scowled up at him. "What about Vartel? How is he tied up in this mess?"

Twist's grinned maniacally. "The only way to kill a god is to rip him from the heavens. The only way to obtain Superman's cellular make-up is to take him out of a place where he belongs and into a place where he doesn't, a place which would make him vulnerable, a place where his molecular structure would be unstable. I was initially going to send him to an alternate dimension, but then I met Thomas Vartel." Twist suddenly closed his eyes and sighed deeply. His mouth began to move, this time he was controlling it. His words were foreign, barely audible. He nodded once as if communicating with some far off being.

"What's he doing?" Oliver asked.

Zatanna shrugged. "I don't know, but I can't stop it."

Bruce reached into his utility belt, looking or something to knock Twist unconscious, but then he opened his eyes abruptly and smiled at them serenely. "Right, where were we?"

***

Clark looked up at the clock on the wall. _14:22. _It should have happened by now. Something should have changed. With a resolute sigh, he walked out of the conference room and down the hall. With lightning speed, he typed in the code to the Silent Space and stepped inside. Vartel was right where they had left him, his hands his in head, rocking back and forth.

"Tim," Clark ventured in his direction. Vartel looked up, his eyes filled with tears.

"It didn't happen did it? My Issac's gonna die."

Clark shook his head. "No, I won't let that happen."

"I'm sorry, Superman. Sorry that you'll finally be able to share my pain."

Clark felt his heart begin to race. "What are you saying?"

"He'll never let you have her. Not if you don't go back. It was the only way. It was the only way and now it's too late. Too late for Isaac. Too late for Cira." Clark watched helplessly as Vartel broke out in violent, racking sobs. But then he stopped abruptly and stood up straight. His face suddenly took on a different expression. Cold, detached, he angled his head and looked at Clark with a slight smirk.

"Oh Clark. Whatever will your wife say when she finds out you let your daughter die? If only you had taken my advice." Vartel sat down on the chair, his back now turned away. "The loss of a child is something which haunts you forever. Trust me, I know."

Clark swallowed. "Tim, this isn't you."

"Oh but it is. A man can be many things. But then, you would know, wouldn't you? Just as you are Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a top metropolitan newspaper, husband and father, you are also Superman, alien from another planet, hero of the people. I am Thomas Vartel, as you call me, Timmy as my wife used to call me and Alakazam, magician extraordinaire. That's what they used to call me at the nuthouse. Ironic isn't it?" He shook his head sadly. "I never thought you'd let it happen. Now how about some water, hmmm? I find I'm rather parched."

Impetuously, Clark sped over to him and pinned him against the wall, trembling with anger. "No! This can't be it!" He slammed Vartel against the wall. "Tell me how to go back!"

"There he is, the hero of the people. Than one who's willing to give it all up for the greater good. Unfortunately, Superman, I think this time, you might be too late."

Clark clenched his teeth and leaned in close. "Send me back," he said softly, "And I will prove you wrong."

Vartel smiled a broad, triumphant smile, "Your wish is my command."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 15:03**

Cira was already tugging at her safety belt as they pulled into the crowded field. In the distance, they could hear excited voices on the loudspeaker, smell the buttery whiff popcorn and see the top of the big red Ferris-wheel. "Yay!!" Cira yelled, practically vibrating with excitement. "We're here, we're here, we're here!" She scrambled to the door and tugged it open. "C'mon, slowpokes, we're here!!" Lois turned around in her seat and unlocked Cira's door, allowing the excited little girl to hop out.

"Don't run!" Lois called after her as she took off towards the large tents. "Might just end up halfway across Kansas."

"Lois, I told you," Clark held the door open for her. "I don't think she's got any of my strength or speed. She hasn't shown any indication of it."

"Yeah, well, there's no harm in being careful, Smallville." She turned to him suddenly. "Clark, are sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if they come to get her and we're not the farm? Or what if something changes, or what if-"

"Lois," he held her by her shoulders and at looked at her intently. "Nothing bad is going to happen? If they come to get Cira, in the next few hours, they'll find the note we left. Besides, I want to make this time special for her. You, know, considering she'll be gone soon."

Lois sighed. "But how can you be sure? How can you be sure that it worked?"

"I replayed the scene in my head a hundred times. The only man who could have been the murderer was the one I stopped. The one who they cuffed. He was ranting on and on about a woman and how he just wanted to look into some person's eyes. I think he was planning to kill a woman and he probably would have ended up killing a boy. None of the other men were carrying weapons or looked like they wanted to hurt anyone. Besides, I saw the bus on its way back to Belle Reve." He ran his hands down her arms. "Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

"It's just..." she looked away from him to where Cira was excitedly bouncing up and down. "Despite the fact that my life has turned into a 'Back to the Future' rerun and I'm dating an alien, things are...well they're dangerously close to perfect and I've learnt the hard way that perfect never lasts."

Clark's brow quirked. "Oh, we're dating now?"

Lois' mouth pulled into a smile as she recalled that night in the barn and their secret pact to be friends. How things change, she thought wryly. "I won't tell anyone if you don't."

Clark lowered his head to kiss her. "I want to tell the world," he whispered against her mouth. Suddenly, he felt something tugging on his sleeve. Cira was looking up at them with an impatient, unimpressed expression.

"Enough with all the mushy stuffs! I want cotton candy!"

Clark laughed and scooped her up. "Cotton candy it is then."

"YES!!" she yelled, holding on to his hair as her legs dangled from his shoulders. Something told her this was going to be the bestest day ever!

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 14:44**

"Say, could you do something about these ropes? They're rather tight."

Zatanna twirled her finger and the titanium cords tightened around Twist's body, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. "Alright, no favours, I understand."

"You don't understand," Lois said softly. "What you did, you could never understand the pain you've caused."

Oliver put his hand on Lois' shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "Alright, you've got two seconds to start talking. What happened after you met Vartel?"

"I immediately sensed his potential," Twist began. "As a teenager he'd been affected by Kryptonite, he is what you call, 'metahuman', able to bend space, to teleport objects. I initially used him to rid the company of its 'unsavoury elements.' Thomas Vartel's dissociative identity disorder meant that he was easily manipulated into thinking he was doing something great, saving the world. In a way, I suppose, he was. But, it was only after my plan had come together that I realised how useful he could be, how I could use him to my advantage." Twist cracked his neck from side to side, indicating his discomfort. "I took him into my confidence, learnt his secrets, his weaknesses. His son had been murdered years back. Thomas Vartel never found the murderer. I convinced him that it was Superman."

"Why would he believe you?" Dinah asked. "After years of searching, why would he believe Superman of all people was responsible?"

"The mind, even the human mind is a complex web of memories. Thomas Vartel's web was so dense and chaotic that there were places, memories that even I could not reach. This chaos however, made it easy for me to manipulate what I could see. Telepathically, I began to communicate with Vartel. Not his current self, but the version of Vartel which resided in 2009. I came to him dreams and hallucinations, I told him that his son was to be murdered by a man with the abilities of a god. As I continued to lay these false prophesies in the mind of the younger Vartel, his current self began to remember them, thinking them true. I was able to convince him that the only way to save his son was to send Superman to the past." Twist smiled. "You see, there is side of Vartel which truly believes that Superman will save his son. A part which thinks that Superman allowed his son to die by only letting the true murderer go free and that if he goes back, he will change the future." Twist's brow knotted. "As far as I can tell, this version of events is largely factual. There was a bus which was saved and on it, was the man who would kill Thomas Vartel's son. But this does not concern me. It doesn't matter how or why the boy dies, what matters is that there is also a part of Vartel, a side laboriously tended to by me, which believes that Superman himself is the murderer. It is this side which teleported the child. It is this side who will kill Superman. The irony," Twist laughed suddenly. "The irony is that it is the more human side which will convince Superman to go back."

Lois inhaled sharply. "Clark."

"I don't get it," Oliver said, "Why go to all the trouble. Look, not to sound like one of the bad guys here, but if you wanted Clark dead, why not get past Vartel to kill him before he became Superman?"

"Because he doesn't want Superman dead," Bruce said. "He wants to harness his Kryptonian make-up. And he can only do that when Clark's out of his time."

"Well, actually you're wrong, Batman. I do want to kill Superman. And I will, just after Vartel has managed to get what I need. There is no way to reach Superman here, not with all of you surrounding him constantly, not with his advantages. I have learnt from my mistakes. But places in the past, opposite another version of himself, he will be weak, vulnerable, out of time and space. He will be mine."

"But you've failed," Lois said, looking up at Twist with disgust. "Superman doesn't have to go back, we were able to work it all out without him ever leaving this time and now that we know your sick game, he never will. So, looks like you're beat...again."

Twist grinned broadly. "Are you sure about, Miss Lane?"

_BZZZZZ _Bruce looked down as his transcom buzzed. "This is Batman," he said, adjusting the earpiece. "Flash, slow down, what happened?"

They watched as Bruce's face grew darker and darker. His eyes drifted to Lois as he listened to Bart's voice.

"What is it, Bruce?" Lois' voice trembled. "What's happened?"

Bruce switched off the transcom and swallowed hard. "Bart found Vartel dead in the Silent Space. He'd hanged himself."

"You did this," Oliver yelled at Twist. "Those words you were mumbling...You did this."

"What about Clark?" Lois asked frantically. "Is he alright?"

"He wasn't there," Bruce said in a low voice. "By the time Flash arrived, Superman was gone."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 15:30**

"It's gone!" Cira whispered in wide-eyed fascination. "Look, Mommy, the clown, he putted the ball into his mouth and now it's goooone!" The clown in question suddenly squawked and spat out an egg, sending the children watching him into a fit of giggles. Cira clapped her hands excitedly. "Yeah! Again, again!"

"What about that teacup ride?" Clark asked looking up at Cira, whose sticky, cotton-candy stained fingers were gripping his hair. "I thought you wanted to go on that one."

She pointed straight ahead and bounced on Clark's shoulders, "YES! To the teacups, horsie!" Clark neighed playfully, eliciting a delighted squeal from his daughter. He shot a sidelong glance at Lois who'd been unusually quiet since they'd arrived. She rewarded him with a small, secretive smile and slipped her hand into his. Their fingers interlaced as if it were the most natural thing in the world – which was why she pulled away.

Clark turned to her. "Lois, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just…" he eyes darted over to a food stall, "I'm thirsty. You guys run ahead and I'll get a couple of Cokes, okay?"

"Mommy, you gotta come with us," Cira said.

"I'll meet you there in a second, kiddo." She turned to go but Clark's hand on her shoulder caused her to turn back.

"Are you sure you're alright?" His green-blue eyes met hers in question, seeking to comfort, to understand.

"I'll be a hell of a lot better after I get that Coke." She shot him a wide grin. "Clark, I'm fine, go on."

He returned her smile, apparently convinced and set off towards the teacups with Cira.

Once he was out of earshot, or what she hoped was out of earshot – she really had to find out the details about the whole super powers thing - Lois let out a deep breath. In the distance, she could see Clark and Cira stop in front of the petting zoo. She watched Cira shriek in fear as a camel moseyed on over to her. The little girl practically jumped off Clark's shoulders, but he swung her onto his hip and seemed to be calming her down. Lois watched as Cira held her arms around his neck, refusing to even look in the camel's direction. Clark eventually backed away and they continued towards the teacups.

If that had been her father, Lois thought suddenly, he would have insisted that she face her fears, hell he wouldn't have stopped until she was riding the animal with one hand tied behind her back. But Clark, he knew when to push and when to comfort. Those liquid blue eyes of his always seemed to suggest that he'd catch you, no matter where you fell. Safe was the one thing Lois always felt around Clark, yet as she watched him and Cira prance off, those butterflies in her stomach, the thud of her heart, felt anything but safe. If there was one thing being dragged around, country after country taught you, it was that nothing lasted forever. And no-one knew about impermanence better that Lois Lane. She'd learnt from a very early age that getting attached led to nothing but heartache. Her mother, her father, Lucy, the friends she'd made at the five dozen bases she's lived at as a child, even Oliver Queen – all of them had left her behind, or she'd left them behind. Either way, she always seemed to end up alone. Most of the time it wasn't too bad. She'd learnt to deal, to adapt, to push people away before they could do the same to her.

But then came Clark.

She never thought that bumbling, annoying, sanctimonious farm-boy would ever creep his way into her heart, but he did, and in him she found not only her best friend, but (and she would seriously mock herself later for even thinking this) someone who in the most elemental sense, completed her. Lois and Clark. It sounded so right, so natural - as natural as his hand in hers, as the feeling of his lips on hers, as those three words hanging off the tip of her tongue, threatening to jump off towards him. There were very few moments in Lois' life where'd felt completely and utterly content, without some deadline hanging over her head or an altercation with the landlady about the state of the water pipes, but being in that moment, with Cira riding high on Clark's shoulders and his hand in hers, Lois felt content. The impermanence she'd come to expect from life was suddenly replaced by something solid and real. Part of her was terrified, but Lois was never one to back down from a challenge. With a shaky but determined breath, she turned to follow her future husband and daughter, with every intention of 'riding the camel'.

By the time she'd caught up to them, Cira was furiously turning the wheel on the teacup as it spun round and round, her little face red with exertion.

"Where's my Coke?" Clark asked as she approached.

"I realised I wasn't that thirsty," Lois said, then leaned up and kissed him suddenly, taking away any thought he had of complaining. Instinctively, his arms came around to pull her closer. Suddenly the world quietened and all Clark could hear was the twin beat of their hearts, racing to a climax. Clark had always been rather against public displays of affection. Even when he and Lana had been dating, they'd kept their hand-holding to a minimum, but as Lois' hand came up to rest at the nape of his neck he found himself resolved to find the merits in PDA.

"Mr. Kent?" Clark regretfully pulled away from Lois as the sound of his name shattered the moment. He looked up to see a blushing young man, staring at him with a broad grin. "I-I thought I recognised you."

As Lois turned around, the young man's grin wilted and was replaced by a look of pure shock. "M-Miss Lane?!"

Lois shot him a saucy smile. "Hey Jeff."

Jeff looked from Lois to Clark with an expression that suggested they'd just shot his puppy. "Well nice to see you. I'll just leave you to--" He managed a lame wave before walking away towards the fortune teller.

Lois looked like she was stifling a laugh and Clark shook his head admonishingly. "I think you broke his heart, Miss Lane."

She looked up at him, fluttering her eyelashes. "Why Mr. Kent," she began in her best southern belle imitation, "Whatever could you mean?" Behind them, a brass band began to play Sinatra's 'Fly Me to the Moon.' Clark held out his hand. Lois stared at hit sceptically.

"Dance with me," he said simply.

"Clark, we're in public," she said as if she didn't just attempt to make-out with him in front of the teacups.

"So?" he laughed when she quirked her brow. "C'mon, Lois, I want you to dance with me."

Lois looked like she was considering it when Cira's voice broke through the noise. "That was awesome!!"They turned to see her running towards them, her arms outstretched, like she was planning to take off. Clark caught her as she jumped towards him and twirled her high in the air. "Daddy, that was the bestest teacup ride ever! Can I have more cotton candy?"

"Uh, how about we hold off on the sugar for now, peanut," Lois said before Clark could agree.

Cira frowned. "Mommy, it's not for me. I wanna give it to him." She pointed to a little boy, standing on the far side of the ride, his shoulder's shaking as he wept. "He looks kinda sad so I wanted to share," she explained.

Lois and Clark shared a puzzled glance. As they walked towards him, the little boy looked up and fiercely wiped his tears.

"Hey, there," Clark said in a soothing tone. "What's wrong?"

The boy sniffled. "I c-c-can't find my Grandma. I th-think I'm lost."

"It's okay, champ," Lois said, crouching in front of him. "We're gonna help you, okay? We'll find your Grandma in no time."

He looked up at Clark for confirmation. "She's right, I bet your Grandma's looking for you right now."

He seemed to calm down. "Okay."

Cira's voice rang down from Clark's shoulder. "Hello little boy, I'm Cira, what's your name?"

Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he looked up at her and attempted a smile. "My name's Isaac."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 16:40**

Clark blinked against the bright sunlight which poured down on his face. He saw a vast canvas of blue, dotted with large grey clouds. Suddenly a crow cawed loudly, causing him to sit up in alarm. Clark looked around. There were green stalks everywhere, obscuring his view. He stood up and floated above them. In the distance, he saw the barn and house and the old truck he'd sold just before he and Lois had gotten married. His heart skipped a beat as he realised where he was, or at least, when he was. Vartel had done it, it had worked –he was in 2009.

_______________________________________________________

Comments? Queries? Requests for my address so you can send me large quantities of chocolate?


	14. Sins of the Father

**A/N: **Hey all! It's been a while, I know but I come bringing chapter 14 :) This chapter really was a journey...so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it !As always, thank you for your wonderful and supportive reviews!

Enjoy...

**Chapter 14 - Sins of the Father**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 16:41**

Clark blinked against the bright sunlight which poured down on his face. He saw a vast canvas of blue, dotted with large grey clouds. Suddenly a crow cawed loudly, causing him to sit up in alarm. Clark looked around. There were green stalks everywhere, obscuring his view. He stood up and floated above them. In the distance, he saw the barn and house and the old truck he'd sold just before he and Lois had gotten married. His heart skipped a beat as he realised where he was, or at least, when he was. Vartel had done it, it had worked –he was in 2009.

The sound of the cows in the pasture, the smell of freshly cut hay, the way the barn looked in the afternoon sun all filled him with a sense of nostalgia. It was a time he would never get back. As he floated above the cornfields, Clark looked towards the house wondering if should change before announcing his presence. Chloe had warned him not give too much away. He thought about it for a second before recognising the constant thud of a familiar sound. His daughter's heartbeat. His relief was short lived as he realised it was not coming from the house, but from somewhere further away, somewhere where she was frightened. He listened for Lois' and found a similar pattern. Without a second glance at the home he grew up in, Superman sped towards his family, leaving only cow and crows in his wake.

***

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 15:41 (60 minutes before)**

Clark stared down at the boy, his mop of black hair, his wide brown eyes displaying both uncertainty and exhaustion. He guessed him to be a year or so away from adolescence. The fullness of cheeks and roundness of his face indicated that he was still very much a child- a lost child, something Clark could relate to.

"I know I shouldn't have run away," Isaac began, looking at them with a guilty frown. "Grandma May told me to wait by the Ferris wheel, so I did, except then I thought I saw my-" he stopped suddenly and seemed to choose his next words with care. "I thought I saw someone I haven't seen in a real long time, so I chased after them, but then I realised I was so lost and I walked around calling for Grandma May, but I just couldn't find her." His gaze fell to the scrape on his knee. "Then I fell and I guess it hurt alot so I started crying like a little kid." Isaac kicked at the ground, angry at himself. "Some doctor I'll make one day."

Clark crouched down in front of the boy. "You wanna be a doctor huh?"

The boy nodded intensely.

"Well you know," Clark said, meeting his gaze deliberately, "Even doctors get scared sometimes."

"No they don't," Isaac scoffed.

"Sure they do," Lois added behind Clark. "I mean, those scrub caps alone are scary and then they have to deal with the bleeding and the dying? Trust me kid, I've seen the inside of enough hospitals to know that even doctors get sufficiently freaked out at times."

Clark hid a small smile, slightly amused at Lois' attempt at backup. "But you know how they deal with the fear?" He asked, drawing Isaac's gaze back to him.

Isaac shook his head.

"They work together," Clark said. "They help each other out." He smiled at him and stood up, offering his hand. "What do you say we work together to get you back where you belong? We can go over to the ticket booth and ask them to make an announcement."

Isaac looked uncertainly at Lois and Cira and then back to Clark. "Okay," he said, offering Clark a tentative smile, "Let's go."

Around them, the carnival bustled and buzzed on as more people arrived, ready to partake in the evening's festivities. For a Sunday, it was surprisingly full. Colourful clowns rode donkeys and men on stilts walked around as if it were the most natural thing, creating a definite sense of the unreal. As they walked past a fortune teller, Lois was reminded of her one and only attempt at a sneak peak of her future. "Hey, Smallville" she began, leaning in towards Clark, "How do you feel about tights?"

Clark looked back at her amused, "As in the kind a certain green archer wears?"

She nodded, biting her lip mischievously.

"To be honest, Lois I think they're rather silly. Why?" he asked, a suspicious edge to his voice.

"Just wondering," she replied cryptically as she attempted to drag her mind out of the gutter it had taken residence in. She loosened her grip on Cira's hand and the little girl walked over to Isaac and attempted to grab hold of the twelve year old's hand. More than a little embarrassed, he tried to shoo her away but she just grinned up at him and settled for holding on to the end of his jacket. Watching them with amusement, Lois was pretty certain her daughter had just developed her first crush. She slipped her hand into Clark's, their stance mirroring that of the two little people walking just ahead of them. Clark looked down for a moment, then smiled to himself, suddenly and ridiculously happy.

"I'm curious," she said after a while, as she watched Cira happily chat to Isaac "Does your magic work only on kids or does it extend to birds and farm animals as well?"

"I have been known to charm the old cow or two into letting me milk her," he replied with a hint of pride.

"Think you can charm that dog of yours to stop shedding all over me?" As if on cue, she sneezed, "I swear it's like I can smell him even now."

Clark laughed, "Actually I think it's because we just walked past the petting zoo, Lois." She looked back at the menagerie of animals waiting in dread for tiny children to come along and harass them.

"Oh." She sniffed and continued forward, purposefully ignoring the tiny smirk on Clark's face. She'd never admit how giddy she felt, with her hand in his and her shoulder brushing against his safe, solid frame. For the first time in long time, she felt free of the pressure to be the general's tough and self-reliant daughter or the Planet's top reporter or the world's most supportive cousin.

Lois allowed herself to just let go and feel like a normal girl, out on a date with her alien boyfriend and her time-travelling daughter. It was perfect.

She suddenly realised Clark had stopped, his attention elsewhere. Clark angled his head, his thoughts diverted by the sound of whining sound of sirens. Lois looked up at him, frowning. "Trouble?"

He closed his eyes for a second. The cars were driving at quite a speed but he could pick up the grainy voices coming from the despatch radios _...armed and dangerous. We have reason to believe that the suspect escaped from-_

TRRRILLL! The shrill sound of a whistle blown by a man on stilts jarred Clark's concentration for a second.

_Need for backup?_

_Negative, we have this under control. Over._

"There are two police cars on the highway. They're looking for someone."

Lois looked taken aback. "The highway? You could hear two cops talking on the _highway?"_

"Well I could hear their radios," he replied, suddenly hesitant. Being able to share his abilities with Lois was a new experience. After a lifetime of keeping secrets, Clark didn't want it to be a case of 'too much too soon'.

But she surprised him by lightly brushing her fingers across his forehead. "Must get noisy up there."

"Sometimes," he admitted. "Sometimes the world just seems so...loud." He sighed, "But I guess as with all my abilities, I learnt focus and control."

Lois stared at him as he spoke, she watched as his brow furrowed as he took the weight of the world onto his shoulders. Clark Kent, alien/farm-boy was a pro brooder. At least now she knew why. Feeling wonderfully reckless, Lois brought her mouth up to his ear and whispered, "Well, Smallville, I look forward to making you lose that control."

She laughed delightedly when Clark's eyebrows shot up. He swallowed hard, about to reply when Cira's voice reached them.

"BERNARD!!" she cried, letting go of Isaac's jacket, she ran back towards her parents. "Daddy! Mommy! Look! LOOOOK!" She pointed frantically towards the stall just next to the ticket booth. It was a game stall, offering stuffed animals as prizes for shooting down moving water balloons.

"It's Bernie!" Cira exclaimed, pulling on Clark's sleeve, her little body practically dragging him towards the stall. "See?" She pointed to the rather inconspicuous powder blue bear dangling from the wall.

"That's Bernie?" Lois asked, surprised.

"Uh-huh," Cira replied happily. "'Cept my Bernie's all old and his one ear's chewed and his one eye falls off sometimes. This Bernie's all new and wonderful!" she finished with a yeaning sigh.

"Cira, how about we find Isaac's grandmother and then we come back for...Bernie." Clark suggested. Cira looked up at him with an expression he'd come to know well over the past five years, an expression that Lois had long patented and which her daughter had no doubt inherited. An expression that consisted of raised eyes brows, a puckered mouth and a stubborn jut of the chin. There was no arguing with that.

"But Daddy, its Bernie." Cira said, her lip sticking out stubbornly.

"It's okay, Clark," Isaac said, looking at Cira. "I don't mind."

Clark looked at Lois who shrugged and held her hands up in defeat, "Hey, it's Bernie."

"So you gonna do this or not?" The man behind the counter asked. He looked like w he wanted nothing more than to get this over with so he could go on smoke break. Clark offered him two tickets in return for a rather monstrous looking dart-gun. He took it awkwardly from the man causing Lois to roll her eyes and snatched the gun from his hands, handling it like an expert.

"How about you the let pro's play, huh farm boy?" She shot him a confident grin. Clark made a teasing face at her.

"Hey, uh, can I try?" Isaac asked, looking up at Lois. "When I was little, my Grandpa and me used to shoot cans in the backyard."

Lois handed him the gun, "Sure."

Taking a step forward, Isaac aimed at the spinning water balloons and pulled the trigger. The shot just missed a heavy red balloon and instead hit the soft padding behind it.

Isaac looked disheartened. "Uh, I guess I need more practice," he handed the gun back to Lois but she put it back into his hands. "Chin up, kiddo, nobody gets it right on their first try," she said, bending down behind him. She may not be great at the whole feelings and dealing part of parenting...yet, but if there was one thing Lois could teach a kid, it was how to shoot a gun. And that was exactly what she planned to do. She placed the gun in his hands and guided him towards the target, "Okay," she said, holding his shoulders firmly watching the balloons twirl by, "Keep your eye on the purple one. Steady, steady...Now!" Isaac pulled hard on the trigger, causing the little pellet to shoot thorough the air and burst a bright purple balloon.

"I did it!" He yelled, turning around to face Lois with a look of pure pride. "Did you see?"

Lois grinned back down at him. "You're a natural," she remarked, ruffling his hair. He turned to look for Cira's approval, but she was completely preoccupied by the sight of her bear hanging on the wall.

"Congratulations." The man behind the counter said, his expression never once changing. "You get a prize. Which one d'ya you want?"

"The blue bear." Both Lois and Clark said together. They turned to look at each other, a little startled at their synchronous display of parenthood. With a sigh, the man pulled the blue bear off the wall and handed it into Cira's eager arms.

Oh, Bernard," she said hugging it to her tightly; "Did you miss me?" She turned to Isaac with a coy smile and bat her eyelashes winningly. "Thanks for gettin' him for me, Isaac."

He dug his hands into his pockets shyly. "No problem, Cira."

"At least we know she inherited my feminine charm," Lois commented, watching Cira try and grab onto Isaac's hand.

Clark snorted loudly. "What feminine charm?"

"Oh you did not just do that. I've got feminine charm! I've so much feminine charm it's coming out of my-"

"Lois," Clark interrupted at her in a laughing tone, "that's just one thing that I just don't associate with you."

"Oh really?" She raised her eyebrow. "Then how else do you explain how I talked my way into obtaining an all access pass to confidential government files, a free tour of the Mayor's private office and tickets to a sold-out _Seether_ concert all in one week?"

"Um?" he tapped his chin pretending to think, "As I recall, you phoned and begged my mother to pull a few strings to get that file, you threatened the Mayor's assistant with military action and you lied to the concert organisers, telling them you were writing a story for the Planet."

Like I said," Lois replied tossing her hair over her shoulder, "Feminine charm."

With a quiet chuckle, Clark slung his arm around Lois' waist. He felt her tense up for a second before relaxing against. He felt strangely giddy. Walking now, with his arm around Lois, he felt more himself than he ever had. He didn't find himself wishing he was regular or that his life was less complicated, because he knew that it had all led him to this moment. This very mundane, banal, perfect moment with his future wife and daughter. They were quiet for a while, as Cira and Isaac ran in circles ahead of them.

"You were good with him," Clark murmured into Lois' hair. "Especially when you advocated gun violence," he said with a smile. "That was sweet."

Lois looked up at him. There was something about that teasing grin that made her want to kick him and kiss him all at the same time. Luckily, she opted for the latter. As her lips met his in a chaste kiss, Cira's shriek cut through the air.

"HEY ISAAC! Wait up!" They looked up to see the Isaac sprinting out of sight with Cira following after.

Lois felt the sudden gush of wind dragging her forward, pulling her off balance. When she looked up, Clark was kneeling next to Cira, holding both her tiny hands in his larger one.

"Woah," she murmured softly, watching in the distance as her future husband frown at their little girl. Everything about Clark from his genuine concern to his amazing abilities was...super, she thought as she jogged towards them.

"...but you can't just take off like that, sweetheart." he was saying when Lois caught up to them. "It's not safe."

"But Daddy," Cira looked back at him anxiously, "Isaac runned away."

"You think he saw his grandmother?" Lois asked, slightly out of breath as she scanned the crowd.

"Uh-huh," Cira said, "He called out to his daddy. Then he ran in there."

They followed her gaze to the oval entrance announcing the _A Maze-ing House of Mirrors!_

"Come, on!" Cira whined, tugging at Clark's sleeve then skipping ahead of them, dragging her bear as she went.

"That's it," Lois muttered as they trailed close behind Cira, "When this becomes a fulltime gig, we are definitely getting her a leash."

"Lois, we are not putting our child on a leash." Clark protested. "It's inhumane."

She sniffed, "You know, she wouldn't have run off it _someone_ hadn't distracted me."

"If I recall correctly, you were the one doing the distracting," he countered.

"Yeah well...that's why the leash would be a good investment. What?!" she shrugged when Clark shot her are reproachful look, "We could get her a nice turquoise one to match those baby blues."

Clark rolled his eyes and led her towards their daughter who was dutifully waiting for them outside the maze.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 15:41**

"Well, come on, what are you waiting for?" Lois stared incredulously at the figures standing around the large, circular conference room. "Get your sonic jets or whatever. Let's get this show on the road."

"Lois-" Oliver stepped forward. "There's no way to reach him."

"What do you mean 'no way'? You're the Justice League for God's sake. You have every sort of techno gadget at your disposal. You've stopped giant gorillas and crazy killer robots from another dimension. Now, you put your super heads together and come up with a plan to find my husband." Lois took a deep breath. She knew Clark wouldn't deliberately put himself in any danger, but he was alone and he was vulnerable and if she knew anything about the man she married, it was that he was willing to make stupid sacrifices for the people he loved. The thought of him out there, very possibly walking into a trap caused her heart to beat so hard she was surprised no-one else in the room heard it. Lois could deal with the long hours, the constant disappearing acts, the fact that she had to share her husband with the whole world but the never-ending battle, the lying in bed at night wondering if he was safe, if he was alive, that was something the wife of a superhero never got over.

"He took the Justice Ring with him," Oliver began carefully.

"Why would he-?"

"Probably to bring Cira back with him." Bruce interjected. "He made sure he had a way back."

"Okay," Lois nodded slowly, "So go after him. I'm sure there's still time to-"

"We can't go after him, Lois. Not until J'onn opens that portal." Bruce took off his cowl and threw it on the table. He looked at her intently, grey eyes burning into her hazel ones. "Our technology's not as advanced as the Legion's. We only made one ring. By taking it, Clark was securing his way back. He knew Vartel was unstable, he knew we'd have trouble opening a portal in time. He took the ring as a message for us to trust him." Bruce sighed. "We have to trust him, Lois." He wondered if she heard the lie in his voice. He wondered if she sensed just how angry he was at Clark for being so rash. Lois Lane was nothing if not perceptive.

Lois ripped her gaze away from his as she blinked back tears. She would not cry in front of them, not while her husband and daughter were out there. "He didn't know about Brainiac. He'll be walking into a trap."

"He might be a boy scout, but he's smart," Oliver said. "And he's not alone. Back there, he's got you and young Clark to back him up."

Suddenly the metallic doors hissed open and J'onn J'onzz entered, his face impassive as always. "I have begun work on the time portal. It should be ready within six hours. I have programmed it to open in Smallville Kansas. Based on the co-ordinates I was given, it should be somewhere near the Kent farm."

"Thank you, J'onn," Bruce began. "I'll let you know when-"

"We have a problem!" Zatanna yelled, coming up behind the Martian.

"Brainiac?" Bruce asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No, he's locked away in a containment cell, muttering to himself."

"Then what?"

"It's Chloe..." Zatanna replied breathlessly. "She's in labour."

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 16:11**

"ISAAC!" They walked into the maze. Florescent lights shone everywhere, illuminating the mirrors which seemed to line every wall. Distorted reflections looked out at them, some adding fifty pounds, some taking away, some making them look as tall as giants others as short as dwarves.

"I don't like this place," Cira murmured, staring into one mirror which elongated her face disproportionately. Lois picked her up and hugged her tight.

"It's okay, honey. We'll be outta here soon." She touched Clark on the elbow. "Smallville, I don't think anyone's in here. It looks kinda deserted."

Clark squinted at the mirrors in front of him.

Lois shot him a sidelong glance. "You know if you keep you face like that for too long, it'll stick."

"I can see him," he murmured. "He's near the centre of the maze." He took Lois' hand and pulled her along, "Come on."

They turned left and right, as Clark guided them through the twisted passages and deceptive entrances. More than once they reached a dead end.

"I take it your x-ray vision doesn't come with GPRS," Lois quipped as they walked into another closed corridor.

"I guess I forgot to ask for a navigational system when I got my abilities," Clark muttered as they wandered through the halls, their absurd reflections mocking them as they went. "This way," he said more confidently as they turned left into a small, room lit with a vibrant blue florescent glow, lined with mirrors designed to make the observer look outrageously tall. Isaac sat in the corner of the room, his knees up to his chin.

He looked so small, Lois thought as he sat there, staring up at them. She was suddenly struck by the strongest urge to hold him close and tell him that it was all going to be okay. He said nothing as Clark and Lois walked over to him. Lois shot Clark a worried glance and knelt down beside the boy. "Hey, are you alright?"

Cira lifted her head off Lois' shoulder and turned to face Isaac. "Why'd you run off like that?"

Isaac looked at Lois then up at Clark. "I saw my dad," he said in a small voice. "He looked different from in the pictures but I knew it was him."

"When last have you seen him?" Clark asked, feeling suddenly uneasy in the big, silent structure. When he'd looked around for Isaac he didn't see any other body, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"When I was four my Mom died, "Isaac began, "And I went to stay with my grandparents 'cause my Dad got sick. They said he was a bad man, they said he hurt my Mom, but he used to send me letters and I never told Grandma May cause I knew she'd be mad, and he said he'd come get me one day and he'd teach me magic so we could join the Russian Circus." Isaac looked away as his eyes welled up. "I ran in here cause I saw him, but when I got here, I got lost and then I heard someone talking and I first thought it was to me, but they were saying something about killing somebody and I guess it kind of got me scared." Lois looked back at Clark, her face registering his disquiet. Instinctually, she tightened her hold on Cira. For the first time since her daughter's impromptu appearance, Lois felt the acute weight of her responsibility. If there was even the slightest chance that they were in a dangerous situation, she needed to get her little girl out of there asap. Clark's expression as he looked down at her seemed to suggest he concurred. He protectively rested his hand on her lower back as she stood up.

"Let's get you out of here," he said, offering his hand to Isaac.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Superman."

At the sound of the voice, Lois and Clark spun around causing the man standing in the doorway to pause, his face registering surprise. "Wait. You aren't the Superman, or at least not yet."

Clark frowned deeply as he recognised at the figure blocking their path. "Al?"

He looked exactly the same as he had a couple of hours earlier when Clark had met him on the bridge. His grey top clung to him where sweat patches had formed, despite the chilly air. His dark hair hung loose and lanky against his shallow cheeks.

"That's what they call me," he said in a surprisingly cheerful voice, "The Amazing Alakazam. I'm a magician you see."

"The magic man!" Cira murmured against Lois' neck, her grip on her mother tightening.

"But since we're such good friends already," he continued, "How about you call me Tim."

Clark felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, as if everything was unravelling and coming together at the same time. This was the moment it had all built up to. How could he have been so blind? "You're Thomas Vartel," he said quietly. "You're the one who sent Cira here."

Vartel cocked his head. "Hmm...I don't know about this 'Cira' but perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't. What happens in the future I have no control over, only what happens now."

"Clark, what's going on?" Lois asked, eyeing the man who was leering at them maniacally. "I thought you said you stopped the guy on the bridge."

"Oh he thought he did," Vartel spoke up. "But you see, my master taught me how to control minds. I can't do it with all, just the weak ones. I made Vincent come at you. I even gave him the gun."

"But the bullet..." Clark slowly inched his way towards Vartel, making sure to block Lois and Isaac with his body. "You jumped in front of it to save my life."

"To test you," Vartel clarified. "To see if you were the one. And now I know you are. Though I admit I am a little thrown. My master said there would be two of you. I guess we'll just have to wait for our other guest to arrive."

Clark x-rayed him as he spoke; taking note of the 9mm handgun that was embedded in Vartel's pocket. There was something else, a box, the kind one would use for a ring. It lay in his top pocket, but for some reason, he could not see into it. Clark knew he could overpower Vartel long enough for Lois to get Cira and Isaac out of the room, but making it through the maze wouldn't be easy. As he weighed up his options, he heard Lois' voice, barely audible. He knew she spoke just loud enough for his super hearing to pick up.

"Smallville, he's got a gun in his left pocket, but think I could take him."

Clark shook his head, barely perceptibly. He wasn't sure that Lois' pseudo-karate moves would do the trick this time and he definitely wasn't keen on dragging an unconscious Lois and two children out of the maze.

"It's the only way for you to zoom these kids out of here," she whispered back stubbornly.

"No," Clark said loudly, hoping to dissuade Lois.

"No?" Vartel took a step closer to them. "So you want to start the festivities early then?"

"Dad?" Isaac's voice came from the corner of the room, just behind Lois. "Dad, what are you doing? Let's just get out of here."

Vartel looked down at his son with a strange combination of sympathy and detachment. "Not yet, my boy. Daddy has to take care of a few things first. It's all for you, Isaac."

"But Dad, they haven't done anything."

"Not yet," Vartel sneered, looking from his son to Clark. "Not yet."

"Listen here, Crazy," Lois bounced Cira on her hip. She was getting heavy, but the thought of putting her down didn't even occur to Lois. "You want your son? There he is! He's safe and relatively traumatised, but that's all on you, buddy. You can take him and go. This doesn't have anything to do with us."

"She's right," Clark said, keeping his voice calm and firm. "Let them go. This is between you and me."

"You don't get it do you?" Vartel began pacing. "This is between you and the world! My master told me what you'll become, how you'll take over the planet and turn everyone into your little puppets."

"I would never do that!" Clark stated emphatically. "I'm here to protect humanity, not destroy it."

"Too much talking," Vartel said, waving his hand at Clark. He looked down at his Daffy Duck watch. "I hate it when things don't go according to schedule." Suddenly his gaze turned to Cira. Lois took a step back, clutching the little girl tightly.

"Hey little girl," Vartel began, "Do you like magic?"

"Stay away from her." Clark demanded through clenched teeth, his body was poised to attack. Not since Alicia Baker's murder had Lois heard that sharp edge of uncontrolled violence in Clark's voice. Yet Vartel appeared unmoved.

Cira shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. "It's okay, baby," Lois whispered against her hair. "It's all going to be okay."

As if presenting a magic trick, he held out his hand, and then turned it over to show it was empty. Then he made a fist and squeezed. Despite Cira's objections to magic, she stared at his hand with wide-eyed anticipation, her five-year old brain wrapped up in the suspense of it all. When Vartel reopened his hand, a crystal, no bigger than a kid's marble play in his palm.

"My master sent me many gifts," he stated, staring at the little trinket. "But this one's my favourite."

Before any of them could react, Vartel flung the crystal at the mirror. Lois winced, and turned around, shielding Cira from the glass, but it didn't crack. Instead, the crystal seemed to melt against the glass, spewing forth liquid tentacles that eventually covered the entire wall. Suddenly, it began to change colour, going from clear to blue to a deep, radiant green, creating a luminescent glow in the room. It was sort of pretty in an atom bomb kind of way Lois thought vaguely before the deafening sound of Clark's scream broke through her thoughts and rang through her ears.

There were two times in her life when Lois Lane felt her heart break. Doctors would tell her that this was in fact impossible, for she would consequently be dead. But she brushed them off, knowing from experience that nothing was impossible. Most recently, it had occurred on the busy streets of Metropolis as she watched a ten ton monster crush her husband to a bloody pulp. The first time was on a Sunday afternoon a tiny green room hidden away from the world as the watched the man she recently realised may very well be her soul mate, a man she thought impenetrable, invulnerable and invincible, crumble to the ground like a rag doll.

The only thing he remembered before the pain was that he had failed. As he fell to the ground, he tried to think of ways to get them out there, of ways to stop Vartel before he could hurt them, but all he could focus on was the green. So much green. It felt like his insides were rebelling, trying to push their way outside, his stomach was turning, his heart palpitating, his muscles weakening by the second. He could feel his veins bursting forth, his skin stinging as if on fire, his head splitting not in two but into a million little pieces and somewhere, somewhere in the cold, dark distance, he could hear her voice.

"CLARK!" She set Cira down beside Isaac, who had wrapped himself into a little ball in the corner, watching his father with horror. Lois fell beside Clark, watching his eyes flutter as pain shot through his body. "What the hell did you do to him, you son of a bitch?!" she looked up at Vartel who was staring down at Clark with slight consternation.

"Clark!" Lois patted his cheek, feeling the perspiration that had already broken out all over his skin. "You're going to be okay," she murmured, having no idea if this was true or not. "Clark, come on, what's happening?" she glanced at Vartel murderously. "Make it stop, you're killing him!"

Vartel shifted uncomfortably. "No, my master said it won't kill him, only make him weak. I can't risk him messing up the plan."

"Clark, don't do this," Lois brushed his damp hair off his brow. "Come on, you've gotta fight." She watched him writhe around, his mouth gaping open like a fish.

"Lo-Lois," he managed on a breath.

"I'm here," she said, choking back a sob. She had never before felt this helpless, this _powerless_.

"Cira," he said hoarsely. "Check Cir-" And then he moaned, low and deep as something were eating him from the inside. Lois tore her eyes away from his thrashing body to stare at her daughter.

Cira stood still as a statue, her face deathly pale, her tiny fists clenched, her eyes fixed on Clark. At her feet lay her beloved bear, now forgotten. She didn't move when Lois called her name, not to wipe away the tears that were running down her little cheeks. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "What's happening to Daddy?"

"He-he's sick, honey," Lois managed, swallowing her own tears. She needed to be strong. For her daughter, she needed to be strong. She was torn between reaching out for Cira and staying next to Clark. When Cira took a step towards her, Lois sucked in a breath. "Just stay there, sweetheart. Don't you move okay?" But Cira's eyes weren't focused on her mother, her gaze had moved to the man watching the scene play out with a macabre fascination.

"Please don't hurt my Daddy," Cira whispered on the verge of tears. "Please make it stop. Please don't h-hurt my D-daddy," she said, breaking out in sobs.

"Your Daddy's going to hurt my Isaac." Vartel said with a genuinely apologetic shrug. "I have no choice, little child."

"She's right, Dad," Isaac's small, frightened voice came from the corner. "Just stop."

"Make it stop," Cira chanted, "make it stop, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!!!" Lois' eyes widened as she saw the two darts of fire shoot from the five-year old's eyes. Suddenly there was loud crack and then the sound of shattered glass. Clark knew what was going to happen. He felt the room heat up the second Cira's vision exploded forth. Mustering what little energy he had left, willing himself against the pain, gathering up the last dribbles of strength in his body, Clark flung himself backwards, his only thought was of shielding Lois and Cira from the rain of Kryptonite daggers.

It was as if she were seeing it all in slow motion. Lois watched the mirror of meteor rock crack and explode, she saw the shards coming at them and then there was the weight of Clark's body upon hers. At first she thought the thought the blast had knocked him back, but as she felt him struggle to get off her, Lois knew he had tried to shield them. She was both grateful and furious at the notion that he had tried to protect them when he was practically on death's door. She gently eased him off her and turned to Cira who was curled up in a heap on the floor. Frantically, Lois turned her over, looking for any sign of injury. Fear, thick and viscous bubbled up inside of her as Cira failed to respond.

"Cira! Cira, honey, wake up!" But the little girl looked like she was peacefully asleep. As she sighed softly Lois realised she had passed out, probably due to trauma or perhaps the exertion of using her abilities under such an extreme situation. Part of her was relieved that the little girl was not awake to witness the madness surrounding her. She had seen too much already.

"No, no, no!" Vartel's voice wrenched Lois' gaze away from Cira. He was standing in front of Clark, nudging him with his foot. "This wasn't part of the plan!" He yelled poking at Clark's unconscious form. "You can't die!"

Lois frantically crawled over to where Clark lay, dodging the stray pieces of kryptonite that littered the floor. The room suddenly seemed smaller as the fluorescent lighting above them began to buzz and flicker. As she neared him, she gasped as she saw the twelve-inch shard of kryptonite sticking out of his ribcage. The visual made her feel faint, as if the emotions dragging at her would overwhelm her. Vartel was still kicking at him, frenetically looking at his watch. "This isn't right; it's not supposed to go like this."

"Do. Not. Touch. Him." Lois spoke through gritted teeth. She crawled over to Clark and looked up at Vartel. Sitting on her knees next to a wounded man it looked as if she were praying to the man in the gray hoodie, whose eyes darted wildly around the room, searching for answers that weren't there. Tentatively, Lois grazed her fingers over the wound, feeling the warm blood soaking into the blue cotton of his t-shirt. Clark jerked under her touch, and then stilled, his breathing dangerously shallow. She watched a thick river of red make its way down his side into slowly expanding pool on the ground. Lois was certain of one thing: Clark was dying.

Suddenly everything went quiet and she felt herself go incredibly calm. The loudness in her head seemed to dim as she stood up and faced Vartel. His own calm exterior had melted, giving way to the twitchy, hysterical man beneath. Lois exhaled a trembling breath and ignored the tear streaming down her face, ignored the tremor of her hands. Noting her stance, Vartel dug into his pocket and pulled out the gun, aiming it with a shaky hand at Lois.

"Do not move!" he yelled. "You are walking a very, very fine line, sweetheart. You do not want to cross it!" He clicked the safety off the gun.

"Listen to me," Lois' voice was steady, despite her recklessly beating heart. "You have two choices here. You can give me the gun and let me get help, or I can take the gun from you and possibly kill you with it. It's up to you."

"If I were you," a voice echoed from the heavens. "I'd listen to the lady."

At the sound of the familiar voice, Lois gazed up to see Clark...except it wasn't him, at least not the Clark she knew. Hovering in mid-air was a man she remembered from a forgotten dream, or maybe it was a nightmare. Yet she felt no fear as she took it all in with bated breath, there was only awe and a shock of magnetism, as if she were quite literally drawn to him. In those red boots, those tight blue tights, the bold symbol on his chest, and the kiss-me curl just brushing his forehead, Lois saw her future. And then there was the cape, the red cape that draped down behind him, like the folded wings of an angel.

Lois whispered the name on a stilted breath, a name she that seemed to scream from fibre of her being.

"Superman."

________________

So...?


	15. The Space of a Heartbeat

**A/N:** Hey guys! So, in celebration of last night's episode, I bring you...Chapter 15! (insert cheer here)  
I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I know the last episode ended on a bit of a nail biter. But before you skip down to read what turned out to be my longest chapter yet, I just wanted to say a heartfelt THANK YOU!  
Your comments and support for this story have been completely overwhelming. I never expected this to do so well in the Fanfic awards, let alone win Best Fic 2009 (best reveal, best oneliner and best original character)!!! It's crazy wonderful. So thank you so so much to everyone who voted for this fic and for everyone who continues to review and comment. You're the reason I write and re-write and re-re-write until I feel like my fingers are going to fall off ;D This is most likely the third last chapter of what turned out be be a much longer ride than I'd expected, so enjoy... ;D:)

**Chapter 15 - The Space of a Heartbeat**

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 16:11**

In the space of a heartbeat, he took it all in, each one of his senses acutely focused on the scene below. He heard the soft _plop_ of Lois' forgotten tear as it dropped to the cracked linoleum floor, the scratch of flesh against metal as Vartel's finger rubbed against the trigger of the gun. He heard the soft sigh of the figure on the ground as the pain of the kryptonite shard overwhelmed him - the young Clark Kent lay a breath away from cancelling out his very existence. In the corner of the room, a young boy's heart thudded so loudly, it played like a drum in his head.

Each of these cataclysms revolved around one tiny figure.

The apex of his focus fell upon the little girl, his little girl who lay in the middle of this morbid, carnavalesque battlefield. He ran his eyes over her body, searching desperately for any signs of injury. The breath he exhaled was audible, yet his relief, short-lived. The room glowed green with the Kryptonite that scattered the floor. He couldn't enter without suffering a fate similar to his young self. Three pairs of eyes looked up at him, each reflecting a kind of awe. Yet where Lois' eyes reflected wonder, Vartel's displayed cruel malice.

Vartel – the villain of the piece. Suddenly the pieces of this dark macabre puzzle fell into place. The reason Vartel had never found his son's murderer was because he was the one who pulled the trigger. Vartel had sent him back into time to unwittingly stop himself from committing the crime. He felt suddenly dizzy, as if he were an actor at a dress rehearsal, learning lines that had already been written for him. The scene had been laid, the players were in position - the second act had just begun.

Lois in trouble: he sometimes joked that if he got a penny for every time he saved her life, he'd be able to buy them beachside property for their retirement. Yet there was nothing funny about the cold, hard metal aimed at the young woman's vulnerable flesh. And she was so young, he thought suddenly. Not yet the wife he came home to every night, who after a particularly rough day, would tenderly peel the skin tight suit from his body and lead him with a hot bath, her eyes shining with promise, her mouth curved into a sultry smile. Nor was she the girlfriend who once, during their first flight together, told him in an uncharacteristically shy voice that flying with him made her feel more alive than she ever had before, that it made her feel like anything was possible.

When she looked up at him now, her wonder-filled gaze saw only Superman, not her Smallville. He felt the sudden urgency to shield and protect this young woman who would one day become his wife, to make sure that she would live to experience that moment.

In the space of a heartbeat, he took it all in. And then he acted.

Sucking in a deep breath, he pursed his lips and blew gently. Even from above, he could feel the effects of the kryptonite begin to wear him down. He needed it to be as far from him as possible. The expelled air from his lungs swept across the floor, pushing kryptonite shards in a neat pile into one corner of the room. It didn't take the threat away, but it lessened the pain. He was able to float lower, but still unable to enter the room without the crushing nausea taking hold. It was as if they were locked in a cage he could not enter. His daughter lay unconscious on the ground, his younger self lay bleeding to death, his future wife stood threatened.

Superman refused to feel powerless.

He clenched his jaw and locked eyes with Vartel, willing away the red flame that slowly crept along his corneas.

Vartel's wide-eyed stare drifted from the floor where he watched the broken pieces of meteor rock flutter across the ground to the man who he had been waiting for. "You made it," his voice practically trembled with excitement. "He said you would come and you did." In this younger Vartel, Superman recognised none of the deep sadness or weariness that weighed so heavily on his older self. In this younger Vartel, he recognised a kind of recklessness which discouraged reason.

"Let them go. This is between you and me." His voice was low, dangerous, a sane man would have quaked, yet Vartel only grinned.

"Let them go?" he let out a small chuckle. "But this is just the beginning."

"Tim," he decided on a different path. This was where Batman would call him a fool. A fool for showing compassion for the man who threatened to destroy his family, a fool for putting hope before reason yet Superman refused to give up on the humanity that he believed lurked within Vartel. The humanity that he had seen in the other man's despairing eyes before he had sent him through time. "Hurting them won't save Isaac. You can't take away the pain by taking away someone else's life. Let them go. There's still time to turn this around."

As he spoke, his eyes fell on Lois who was glancing between Vartel's face and the gun in his hand. They'd been in enough of these situations for him to immediately recognise the look on her face. She was about to try and wrestle the gun from his grip. Catching her eye, Superman shook his head slightly, discouraging any action on her part. She raised her brows, with an expression that seemed to question his 'don't'. Vartel, oblivious to the little exchange between them, glared up at Superman.

"You don't know pain!" Distracted, he took a step away from Lois and began pacing. "You don't know what it feels like to lose your entire family." He cast an almost rueful look up, "But don't worry, Superman...you will."

Superman watched Lois' eyes flit between the gun-wielding madman and his own face. She caught his gaze and motioned her head towards the pistol which was pointed away from her. This was their chance to get Vartel down, Superman realised. He assessed Vartel's stance, making sure that he was at a disadvantage before nodding briefly in Lois' direction. As much as he hated to test it, he knew that Lois could hold her own. Taking his cue, she waited until Vartel's body angled towards her then deftly shoved her knee into his groin. As he fell down in pain, the gun flew out of his hand, high into the air. Superman watched it soar. Gathering the heat behind his eyes, he shot out two bolts of laser-like flame, incinerating the metal and causing it to fall to the ground in a melted lump. He looked down just in time to see Vartel reaching out for Lois' ankle in an attempt to pull her down.

"Lois!" His voice caught her attention and she kicked up, causing Vartel to fly backwards against the mirror. Shards of glass came raining down. Despite the nauseating push of kryptonite, he lowered himself to the ground, standing just outside of the little room. Lois turned to face him, her hair a mess, her front covered with blood that didn't belong to her, her face streaked with tears. The fact that he couldn't reach out and touch her, that he couldn't hold her to him and whisper that it would all be alright frustrated him beyond reason. So, he settled for a "Are you alright, Miss Lane?"

Her eyes roamed his entire 6'4, densely muscular frame and eventually landed on his face. He almost smiled as he watched her try to reconcile and make sense of this version of him. She barely managed an "Uh-huh" before they heard the hoarse grate of Vartel's laughter echoing from the back of the room. Superman looked past Lois as a feeling of horror, beyond anything he had ever experienced, clutched at his heart. In his piercing blue eyes, Lois saw fear.

She spun around in time to see the man they called Vartel holding the slack body of her five-year old daughter. He grinned widely, his white teeth now blood stained. His eyes were closed as if he were praying or whispering some dark incantation. Behind him sat Isaac whose face had been cut by the falling glass yet he made no sound beyond fearful whimpers. The fear that gripped Lois' body was unlike any she had ever experienced. It was mind-numbing. She could not think beyond the primal desire to lunge at him and protect the daughter she had just come to know.

Behind her, she could hear the trembling breath of the man she thought fearless. Vartel said nothing, but stood leering at them behind closed lids. He made a disquieting portrait of a madman.

"Listen to me, Vartel." There was no compassion in Superman's voice now, Lois noted. Only cold determination. "You do not have to become the murderer. You don't have to play this role." Lois turned back and watched him attempt to take a step into the room. She saw the grimace of pain on his face, the bead of sweat running down his temple. "They told me that time was fixed," Superman continued his voice flat and unemotional. "They told me that we can't change the future, but I believe in choices. I believe that we choose how to live our lives. Make the right choice, Tim." He tried to take a step further but nearly doubled over. Lois watched, her heart pounding in her chest as he stood up and looked Vartel straight in the eye. "Put my daughter down."

Something flickered in Vartel's face. For a moment, it seemed he would lower the little girl, but then his grin widened and he shifted Cira to one hand, holding her up by her neck. Lois tensed and Vartel began to chuckle. "Very nice speech, very moving. I'm sure it would have won Thomas Vartel's feeble emotions over. Unfortunately, he's not here anymore." Suddenly, Vartel's eyes shot open and he stared directly at them, revealing grotesque white corneas. Confused, Lois turned to Superman to see his face falling as dread set in. "But I am, Kal-El."

The figure of Vartel raised Cira higher and Lois was overcome by a sudden rush of adrenaline. When she first started at the Planet, she wrote a filler piece about a woman who managed to lift her car off the ground to reach her child who was trapped underneath. People on the scene were amazed by her strength. When asked about it, the woman said that the thought of the child suffering and in danger had given her the will power to do anything. Lois never quite understood what she had meant until this moment.

As she charged towards Vartel, she barely heard the voice behind her shouting to stop. All she saw was her daughter, threatened by a madman and then there was the briefest moment of pain and then: darkness.

_Brainiac_

_You knew you would be weakened by coming in here and yet did it anyway. For what? This tiny human._

_Do. Not. Touch. Her_

_Kal-El, you forget you are not one of them._

As Lois swum in and out of consciousness, she heard a number of names and voices none of which made any sense in her hazy state. Her eyes fluttered open at one point. At her angle on the ground, she could make out the blurry form of Superman on his knees. Above him, stood the figure of Vartel, holding what looked like a gun. She managed to reach up to the pounding at her temple then felt a warm sticky substance which she guessed to be blood right before darkness once again took hold.

She had no idea how long she lay there, floating between awake and asleep the throbbing of her head the only thing keeping her from slipping away completely. Part of her wanted to get up and help, to check on Cira and Clark and even little Isaac, but her body was heavy and uncooperative. At one point she thought she heard her name.

_She opened her eyes to see Clark standing in front of her in a tuxedo, holding out his hand with a goofy smile plastered on her face. She looked down and realised that she was in an evening dress. Lois shook her head, confused, "I must have dozed off for a minute," she said, smiling back at him._

"_That's what you get for going to bed at two am," Clark said, still grinning like a loon. Lois placed her hand in his and allowed herself to sway the music she had just realised was playing in the background. _

"_Well I wonder whose fault that was," she quipped. His grip around her suddenly tightened and he brought his lips close to her ear._

"_Don't look down."_

_She did. Of course she did and found that they were miles above the ground, floating in the starry sky. When she looked back at him, he was in his costume, and the emblazoned 'S' pressed up against her breasts. She looked up at him with a dreamy smile. He leaned down to kiss her, but before their lips touched - _

_BANG!_

_The sound echoed through the night sky. Her eyes flew to his face as he looked down at her in confusion._

_She ran her hand over the blue material covering his ribcage. "What happened to all the blood?"_

_He shook his head as tears filled his eyes. "Lois, I'm sorry."_

_And then they were falling. Her scream drowned out by the second explosive..._

_BANG! BANG!_

Suddenly Lois' eyes flew open. The first thing she noticed as her blurry vision began to adjust, was the red-black pool of blood expanding in the centre of the floor. Then all at once, her senses rushed into overdrive and she heard the yelling, smelt the coppery tang of blood and saw the body of the child.

"What did you do?!" Superman's grief-stricken voice rang out.

She up, ignoring the throbbing at her temple and surveyed the scene.

Vartel was on the ground, a strange alien weapon lay in his hands as he knelt over the body of Isaac. "Isaac?!" he screamed in a voice so guttural in sounded like a pained animal.

Three bodies littered the ground.

Superman was not among those.

He was crouched behind Vartel, his mouth drawn into a thin line. A bullet had pierced his right shoulder causing a trail of blood to stain his chest. So much blood, Lois thought, looking around.

And then he was up and moving, pushing Vartel out of the way. In a second, he had the boy in his arms, the image eerily similar to that of Vartel holding Cira. Before she could blink, he was gone, leaving the only her and Vartel as the only conscious figures in the room. He sat across from her, his knees up to his chin, his head buried in his lap.

"What-" Lois cleared her throat. "What the hell happened?"

He looked up at her slowly, his eyes red-rimmed and tear-filled. "I...I think I killed him," his voice was a grated whisper.

Lois' eyes widened. "You killed him?! You crazy sonofabitch." She struggled up, leaning against the broken mirror to support herself.

He held a blood stained hand out towards Lois. "H-help me," he muttered.

Lois evaluated the sorry, pathetic figure of the man slumped down on the floor. The man who was the cause of all the heartache, all the pain...her gaze drifted over to Clark's lifeless form...all the death. She shook her head before turning away from him, "Help yourself."

A sudden wind brought Superman back into the room. His front was blood stained. In two strides, he was in front of Lois. He reached out to touch her bleeding temple, then held back and instead gently squeezed her arm. "Are you alright?"

Of course she wasn't alright. In the space of 24-hours, she'd met her future daughter and her future husband only to have that future rocked to its very core and threatened by the man currently weeping like a child on the floor. Add to that the fact that she was pretty sure she had suffered a concussion and she was definitely not alright.

She swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." As Superman's eyes gazed into hers, she wondered if hypnotism was one of his many abilities, because she suddenly felt comforted.

He squeezed her arm once more and nodded. "You will be. I promise." Then he was gone and Vartel was gone with him.

And then, only silence.

Suddenly alone, Lois assessed the room. She was surrounded by broken glass, a pile of shattered kryptonite, shiny blue bullets which she had no recollection of lay scattered on the floor. And between them lay the bodies of Cira and Clark.

She looked over to the little girl, who was lying, curled up in a ball, oblivious to the madness that erupted around her. Yet even in her sleep, she frowned as if sensing that all was not well. Lois walked over to her over to her and picked her daughter up off the ground, taking enormous comfort in the feeling of her small warm body and the sweet, steady breath she exhaled. Steeling herself, Lois walked past Clark's bloody body and out of the room. Once she had reached the corridor, she shrugged off her jacket, almost completely stained with blood and turned it inside out. She dropped it on the floor and laid Cira down gently before turning around and making her way back.

Lois exhaled tremblingly before stepping back inside. Pull it together Lane, she mentally ordered herself, now is not the time to lose your cool. "Okay," she said under her breath and took one step into the room.

When Lois was seven years old, she had snuck into her father's office to look for those peppermint candies he always kept in his drawer. On his desk was the briefcase he had specifically instructed her not to open. Lois being well, naturally Lois, opened it. In a grey folder marked, _Iran 1991_, were three photographs attached to reports. They were photographs of the battlefield. One depicted a man lying in the middle of a dusty road; his insides were next to him in a grotesque and bloody pile. His face was white, his eyes shut. Little Lois had shoved the pictures back into the folder and run out of the room, trying her hardest to forget what she had seen. She never did. Looking at Clark now, with his pale skin and bloody torso, Lois was reminded of that man.

Clenching her jaw, she walked towards him. She bent down halfway and pushed him up high enough to place her forearms under his shoulders. Hooking her hands under his arms, she used all her weight to pull his body backwards. "Okay, tough guy, here we go," she said tenderly.

Grunting at the effort, she dragged his lifeless body out of the room inch by inch. "You know, Smallville, you should really lay off the spinach," she said conversationally as if he could hear her. Creating a thin bloody trail, Lois managed to pull his body out of the room and into the passageway where Cira lay. Breathing heavily, she collapsed down next to him and brought his head onto her lap. On a sigh, she looked down at his pale, unmoving face. Gently, she traced the lines on his forehead, the bridge of his nose, the slant of his cheek bones. Lois leaned down and realised she had never been this close to him before. As she brushed a finger across his eyelids, she felt his breath on her cheek, warm and shallow, but there. A surge of emotion welled up inside of her, an emotion she had all but given up on when that first piece of Kryptonite speared through him, Lois leaned back and felt the first fluttering of hope. She closed her eyes, feeling the weariness and the physical ache of being beaten and bruised slowly creep through her limbs. It was like every cell in her body cried out in exhaustion.

When a breeze of wind touched her face, she opened her eyes, not sure how long she'd been sitting there. She looked up to see Clark, or at least the man she hoped he would live long enough to become looking down at her, with an expression on his face she had never seen so candidly before: love. He held out his hand and she took it firmly, allowing him to pull her up. She fell against his chest, her legs unsteady and he held on to her shoulders. "Careful," he whispered. Lois looked up into his face, feeling, despite the insanity of the situation, despite the crazy circumstances, a very real flush of longing. She pulled back suddenly and he let her. She swallowed and inclined her head to his chest. "You're bleeding."

He looked down at his shoulder. "It's not mine."

Lois swallowed back the tears that seemed to be waiting for any opportunity to spring forth. "Is he-is he dead?"

"By the time I got him to the paramedics, he'd lost a lot of blood." He averted his eyes, wondering if he should lie to spare her, but then deciding that she deserved the truth. "They said it didn't look hopeful."

Superman dropped his gaze to his daughter who lay with her thumb in her mouth like she had all those times when he'd come to check on her in the middle of the night. All he wanted to do was scoop her up and never let go, but he had learnt long ago that sometimes the things he wanted needed to take second place.

"And Vartel?" Lois' voice was small.

"In a straitjacket on his way back to Belle Reve. They'll be in here soon to survey the damage. We don't have much time. All I know right now is that Vartel is going off to a padded room while his son is fighting for his life."

Lois looked down. "Seems to be a lot of that going around."

He followed her gaze to the body of his younger self. Seeing himself, removed and separate, was one the strangest experiences of his life, and growing up in Smallville, he'd had many. "You have to pull it out," he said. "I can't get him back home, I can't even come near him until the Kryptonite's removed."

Lois dropped down onto her knees, next to Clark. She reached out to touch him then pulled back. Shutting her eyes, she willed herself to keep steady. Then she felt a firm, reassuring hand her shoulder, and let out a breath. She looked up behind her. "You can do this," he said with confidence. "Just pull it out nice and easy. You can't do more harm than has already been done."

She looked down at Clark's still form. "There's so much blood," she murmured.

"Lois," Superman said in a voice that held so much feeling, "You can do this." The assurance in his gaze confirmed his faith, "I trust you. _Clark_ trusts you."

With a resolute nod, Lois gripped the green shard between her thumb and forefinger and pulled slowly but firmly. As the blade ejected, Clark reared up and let out a blood-curdling scream that resonated throughout the entire structure. Lois willed herself to keep going, despite the painful grunts he uttered until it was completely removed. As the last section pulled out he collapsed back down with a moan. Lois flung the offending dagger of Kryptonite far into the maze and looked down at Clark. His breathing had definitely remained shallow, his eyes remained shut, and the wound continued to gape. She turned around to look at Superman.

"What now?"

He bent down and picked up the slack body of his younger self. "Now I get him back to the farm. I'll only be a second, then I'll come back for you and Cira."

Lois nodded, "I'll hold my brea-" Then he was gone. "-th"

And back.

She blinked.

"Sorry I took so long," he began, misinterpreting the look on her face. "I had to make a detour."

Lois' brows shot up. "That was you taking a detour?"

He looked almost bashful. "I'm able to move faster than the speed of light when I'm travelling alone. With passengers, I'm a bit slower."

Lois attempted a smile. "Guess that's why they call you Superman."

"Actually, it was-" he suddenly shut his mouth as if deciding against articulating whichever thought he just had. "I guess so." He looked down at Cira and then back at Lois, "You ready?"

She looked at him curiously, but decided no to press the subject, her desire to get the hell out of there proved greater than her curiosity. So she nodded and was about to pick Cira up before she suddenly remembered something.

"Just one second." She ran down the corridor and into the room where in the corner, laid a powder-blue bear. She picked it up, took a final glance around the room and exited.

When she got back to them, he had Cira in his arms; his face was in her neck, his eyes closed. She approached them softly but he looked up when she came near. His eyes were wet, Lois noted and she had to fight the urge to wrap her arms around him. She lifted up the bear and wiggled him in the air. "Couldn't leave without this."

Superman looked taken aback. "What's Bernie doing here?"

Lois shot him a small smile. "She wouldn't let up until we got him for her."

He let out an astounded little laugh and shook his head. "That's where he comes from. Huh."

"What?" she stared at him with a puzzled frown.

He shook his head with a wry expression, "Never mind, it's not important." He handed Cira to her and bent down to pick her up.

"Whoa," Lois said on a breath as she found herself horizontal and close to his chest. She held Cira against her and looked up at him.

"Here we go," he said softly.

Lois blinked twice, trying to make sense of the images around her but then she was in the Kent kitchen, the only evidence of her travel was the state of her hair. Superman gently put her down and took Cira from her. The little girl shifted in his arms and burrowed into his chest.

"Clark," she said suddenly. "Where is he?"

"He's upstairs," Superman replied, "But Lois..."

But she was already on the stairs, going up two at a time. Lois pushed open the door to his bedroom and rushed inside.

Clark was lying on his back, his bloody shirt had been stripped off and the curtains had been opened wide, exposing his chest to the late afternoon sun. She walked towards him slowly, her heart thudding against her ribcage the entire time. Lois sat down beside him. The wound beneath his ribs had already closed though it looked far from healed. The skin had come together as if stitching itself, but blood still crusted around the edges, creating a nasty looking scar. Lois gently ran her fingers around it and felt him jerk back in his sleep. She leaned in and brought her lips to his ear. "Clark, it's Lois. If you can hear me...I don't know...flutter your eyes or something." She pulled back and looked at him hopefully but his face remained motionless.

She laid a tentative hand on his chest and frowned. As fear seeped in around her, Lois moved her hand further up to his heart. She pressed her palm down firmly where the pulse should be and felt nothing. No, surely not. Fear slowly gave way to mind-numbing terror which seemed to bubble up in her throat. Lois jerked his shoulder wildly. "Clark?! Come on, wake up!" She slapped his cheek- it had worked so well the last time. When he remained unresponsive, she pressed two fingers against his jugular and felt the barely there pulse. She swallowed down the terror that tried clawing its way out of her throat. "Clark," she said his name on a sob. "You don't get to leave me, not yet." She bent her head so that her forehead touched his. "We've still got years ahead of us, Smallville. Apparently, you become some hot shot superhero," she whispered. "The world needs you Clark." She closed her eyes as she felt tears well up behind them. "But right now," she said softly, "Right now I need you more. I need you to get through this and get strong, cause we get to have a pretty great life together, except I can't imagine mine if you're not in it." Her tears ran off her cheek and onto his face. "And that little girl down there, she's gonna need her dad someday, so I need you to live up to your end of the deal here." She placed her lips to his forehead and held them there. "Please," she breathed against his skin.

"Lois?"

The sound of her name on his lips stilled her thudding heart, except it wasn't Clark, at least, not her Clark. Lois spun around. Standing in the doorway was a man in dark slacks, a crisp white, if slightly winkled button-up shirt and a pair of square, black-rimmed spectacles. A nerd with glasses, she thought absently. But there was no denying those piercing eyes behind the lenses or the strong set jaw, or the perfectly muscular body. Seriously, did that disguise work on anyone? At that moment though, the validity of his secret identity was the least was Lois' concerns.

She turned to him and shoved him out of the room. Then shoved him again against the railing. He grabbed her hands when she lifted them again. "Lois! What's-"

"You said he'd be okay!" she half-yelled, half-sobbed it. "You said once I pulled the Krypto-knife out him, he'd recover."

"Lois-" he tried again...

"He's barely breathing!" She yelled, "And I can't even _feel_ his heartbeat. He's dying and you're standing here and I don't get it because if he dies in that bed then he'll never be Superman and you'll never exist. So what? Are you just are you gonna poof out of here or dissolve in little molecules cause either way I'm left with a dead boyfriend and broken heart. And really, this all your fault, because if you hadn't gone and made me fall in love with you in the first place, then we wouldn't have had Cira and she'd never have been sent back here and after what, like seven years of marriage I'd think you'd know better than to lie to me. I mean, really, Clark!"

"LOIS!" he shook her slightly and lowered his head to meet her gaze. "He's not dead."

"But-"

"Under extreme physical trauma my vitals slow to a crawl to allow my body to heal. It'll take some time, but Lois," his eyes pierced into hers, "He'll be okay...I promise."

Lois swallowed hard, her mind trying to make sense of what he'd said. "How can you be so sure? He looks..." she let out a shaky breath, her honey eyes set in an imploring stare. "How do know?"

He was torn between telling her the truth about one of the most painful events in both their lives or giving her the peace he knew she so desperately needed. So he sighed and said, "You have to trust me, Lois. I never lie." When she eyed him uncertainly, he wrapped his hands around her upper arms and bent him head slightly so as to meet her gaze. "He will survive this."

"He will?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes."

"He will," she repeated softly. "Of course he will," A tear slipped down her cheek and she brushed at it absently. "He has to..."

"Lois..." Clark began gently, "Are _you _okay?"

She nodded once before bursting into tears. Instinctively, he reached out for her, wrapping his arms securely around her as she cried, deep, racking sobs shuddering through her body. "Shhh," he soothed, as she tucked her head under his chin. He ran his hand down her back, holding her tightly against him.

Lois clung on to him like a life jacket, purging every fear, every worry, every horrific image of the past two hours. She curled her fingers into his chest. As her sobs quietened, she let her arms fall to her side, but she stayed against him, her cheek against his chest, comforted by his feel, his warmth, his smell. He was Clark, her Clark...only later.

Eventually, she pulled away from him and brushed her hand over his shirt, mentally rejoicing that it was not plaid. She looked up to see him staring at her curiously.

"Sorry," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes, "Got your shirt all-"

"You called me Clark," he interrupted. "And you know that I'm...and you know that we, or at least that you and he..." He sighed, perplexed. "How did you figure it all out?"

She raised an eyebrow as if to say 'really?' Tentatively, she reached up and lifted the spectacles of his face. "Firstly, you might want to invest in a mask or something, cause the glasses, as cute as they are, won't fool anybody. Secondly, despite the curl and the cape and the really tight tights," she looked wistful for a second. "Clark, you could have a bag over your head and I'd still know it's you." she shrugged, echoing back the words he had said in a dark alley not too long ago.

"So you know that I'm-"

"The future Mr. Lane," Lois answered promptly. "Yeah, that has been made rather apparent."

He looked at her incredulously. "How?"

Lois smiled, genuinely smiled for the first time since that afternoon's macabre production. "Do the names Kal and Princess Lo mean anything to you Shakespeare?"

He returned her smile and sheepishly shook his head. "Cira," he deduced.

"Oh yes." Lois nodded, amused at his rueful expression. "Little Miss Motormouth spilled the beans."

"I'm sorry," Clark looked genuinely apologetic. As his face took on his patent 'guilt-look' Superman was transformed into Smallville. "Lois, I'm sorry you got caught up in all this. I'm sorry for all of it."

She tentatively reached up and slipped the glasses back on his nose. "You were not the one who decided to do a re-enactment of _Psycho._ None of this is your fault, Clark." She leaned back against the opposite wall and appraised him, "Although I do still want to know what happened after I blanked out. How did Isaac get hurt? What was up with that guy's eyes..." She frowned suddenly as a name snagged at her memory and looked up at him. "And who's Brainiac?"

**41 minutes earlier...**

"_Very nice speech, very moving. I'm sure it would have won Thomas Vartel's feeble emotions over. Unfortunately, he's not here anymore." Suddenly, Vartel's eyes shot open and he stared directly at them, revealing grotesque white corneas. Confused, Lois turned to Superman to see his face falling as dread set in. "But I am, Kal-El."_

_In that moment, he felt all hope dissipate. Never in his entire existence had he encountered the kind of gut-wrenching fear that gnawed at his insides as he realized that his only child, his baby lay in arms of a creature so despicable, that he lacked any sort of emotion beyond ambition. He watched Lois run towards the Brainiac possessed Vartel. He watched Vartel backhand her as if she were nothing more than an annoying insect. He watched as she hit the wall with sickening thud. And then he was moving, stumbling into the room, fighting the urge to keel over and faint. He walked towards Brainiac like a man fighting the current, trying to push violent waters back. The only thing in his mind was his daughter. Her name played in his head like a mantra. _

_Cira. Cira. Cira._

_Brainiac watched him with a curious fascination. That maniacal grin still plastered on his face. Cira's body still dangling from his hand. If he pressed any harder he would bruise her neck and ultimately crush her wind pipe._

_Cira. Cira. Cira._

_Every step resonated with hurt. Eventually, he halted. Three paces away from Brainiac. He was drooped low, the pain wearing him down. Yet he held his head up, and looked the villain in the eye. And uttered the name as if it were poison._

"_Brainiac."_

_It smiled its sickening smile and continued to look on curiously, as if observing an ant under a magnifying glass. "You knew you would be weakened by coming in here and yet did it anyway. For what? This tiny human." He turned to look at the little girl, obliviously unconscious. _

_Through gritted teeth, he managed, "Do. Not. Touch. Her."_

"_Kal-El, you forget you are not one of them. Yet you insist on absorbing all their weak traits. I could kill this child and you would hurt." He sighed. "It would weaken you more than this Kryptonite ever could."_

_Invoking every last bit of his strength, Superman lunged at Brainiac and managed to push him back into the wall of mirror. Surprised by the show of strength, he let go of Cira. Superman caught her as she fell and laid her down before feeling the intense pressure of Brainiac's fist as it connected with his jaw. As he flew across the room, all he could think about was somehow luring the artificial intelligence away from his family. But then he was on his knees and the possessed figure of Vartel suddenly in front of him. _

"_Brawn over brains. I should have anticipated it. A tactical error, on my part." Brainiac held out his hand, as if offering it as a peace gesture. But in his hand, molecules began to gather out of the heavy air. Tiny black spots fused together to form a solid object which lay in his palm. Superman watched Brainiac use Vartel's fingers to curl around the weapon which had now completely materialised in his palm. _

_It was unlike any gun Superman had ever seen. Most definitely alien technology. The cartridge glowed radiantly, loaded with bright blue bullets. The transparent barrel housed four._

_Without any preamble, Brainiac cocked the gun and aimed it at Superman's vulnerable body. But as Superman stared at the glowing blue ammunition, he felt a stirring of hope._

"_That's blue kryptonite," he said through a clenched jaw. "If wanted to kill me, you'd have used green."_

_Brainiac, cocked his head and smiled as if pleasantly surprised. "Perceptive, Kal-El. I do not want to kill you...yet. I want to strip you of your abilities for a tie. Long enough for me to get you contained without having you cause too much of a fuss."_

_He frowned. "Contained?"_

"_Once I have you in the confinement I have arranged, I will use you as my personal lab rat. You will be my unlimited source of power. When I have harvested and absorbed all your energy and knowledge of the known galaxies, I will improve this sorry planet of yours, I will kill every human being that you hold near and dear, I will use the knowledge you possess to destroy any and every hope your planet has of a future savior and then, after you have watched them all suffer and rot..." he sighed contently at the thought, "Then I will kill you."_

_As Superman looked at the barrel of the gun, his thought began to take shape. Though his mind was clouded by the haze of the green kryptonite, he understood what he had to do. He had to get Brainiac to shoot him._

"_You haven't thought this through," he began._

_Already, Brainiac's nostrils flared at the insinuation._

"_Even with the Blue K in my system, I could take you down," he continued. "I'm stronger than the body you inhabit." He attempted to stand up. "I will defeat you," He managed to make it up on one knee. "Again."_

_Superman tensed as he heard the creak of the trigger as Brainiac squeezed his finger against it. He heard the blast as the bullet erupted from the gun and saw it spiralling towards him before the stinging explosion in his chest. The impact of the bullet caused him to fall backwards and for a second, he was plunged into darkness._

_The strangest thing occurred as he felt the bullet embed itself in his flesh. The overwhelming sense of weakness that had taken hold the minute he entered the room began to dissolve along with the intense nausea. The pain of the bullet remained yet the effects of kryptonite had completely worn off. _

_He lifted himself off the ground with ease._

_Brainiac took a step back._

"_What is happening? Why are you not powerless?"_

_Superman almost smiled. "The blue kryptonite may take away my Kryptonian abilities, but is also takes away my weaknesses. The green kryptonite has no effect on me anymore." He took another step towards Brainiac. "Something you failed to calculate." He was now inches away from him. "Once again, you misjudged me."_

_The implication that Superman had outsmarted him, only served to incense him. He bared his teeth suddenly and spat, "If you are human, then you cannot fight me. And I can pierce your flesh." As he raised the gun, the bullets in the cartridge turned from blue to silver, from kryptonite to lead. "You will not win," he breathed as he pointed the gun at the Superman. _

_Superman watched as Brainiac's cold, calculated malice was lost in the bright flame of anger. Being in the body of a human seemed to have an effect on his emotions. The irony that Brainiac, would succumb to the very thing he despised was not lost. As the very real human emotion flooded him, his finger twitched on the trigger, blinded by hot fury. "Killing me won't get you anywhere." Superman said, trying to bide his time. _

_Suddenly, a little voice caused them both to turn around sharply "Daddy, please. Don't hurt anyone else." _

_Isaac stood in the corner of the room, blood dripping down his face like war paint. He looked at the man he thought to be his father and flinched at the sight of the alien within._

_Without hesitation, Brainiac turned the gun on Isaac and fired two shots. The boy fell to the ground with a heavy thud. _

_Brainiac turned to the stricken Superman with a smug expression. "It's only a matter of time, Kal-El."_

_And then Superman was on him, his hands around his throat, ready to squeeze the life from his borrowed body. He had to destroy Brainiac. A child was dead or close to it. He had been used as a pawn in Brainiac's callous scheme. He had been unable to save a life. And now it was all over._

_It was only when Vartel's eyes opened, displaying human brown irises that he scrambled off him, horrified by his near loss of control._

_He could not kill the vessel, it was the evil inside that had destroyed so many lives, not the feeble, human frame that looked down at the gun in his hands then crawled with wide eyed terror over to the body of his son. _

_Behind them, Superman watched the father lament the son._

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 18:19**

"So then, you pulled the bullet out?" Lois' voice was barely a whisper.

"It was the only way to get my abilities back." Clark narrowed his eyes and dabbed a hydrogen-peroxide soaked cotton ball against her temple. He heard her sharp intake of breath, but other than that, she said nothing. They were in the kitchen, with Lois sitting diligently on a stool while he cleaned and tended to her wound. He'd insisted that she let him look at it. She'd agreed on the condition that he tell her everything that occurred in the funhouse after she got knocked out. Now she sat, reeling from the vivid description he'd shared with her. Despite the fact that it was over, that they were safe, her beat loudly as the memories of fear washed over her.

"Do you think he'll make it?" she asked quietly.

Clark blew gently on her temple, causing a shiver to run through her. "I don't know."Lois watched curiously as e angled his head suddenly and closed his eyes, listening to the beeping of a heart monitor a hundred miles away. "It's too early to tell. He's still in surgery. They're doing everything they can." His voice was thick. "I thought..." he sighed. "I thought by coming back here, I could change things, but I'm starting to think that my coming back was what was supposed to happen all along. They said I couldn't change anything and should have listened. I should have known better than to try and re-write fate. Whatever happens to Isaac is on me."

Lois turned to him suddenly and in her face, Clark saw his wife. She put out a hand and laid her fingers against his jaw. "You can blame yourself until the cows come home, and then you can blame the cows, but nothing changes the fact that you did everything you could. You _tried_, Clark. Even when everyone told you that it was impossible, you came back. If you hadn't been there, none of us would have made it out of that room." As there eyes met, she leaned up, their faces just inches apart. "You saved us," she whispered. He ran his fingers down, from her temple to her chin, his eyes still fixed on hers. For a second, they just hovered, before Lois jerked back, practically falling off the stool.

"Well," she cleared her throat loudly. "Thank you for uh, playing doctor." Her hand went up to the cleaned scrape. "I'm pretty certain I'll live." She could feel her heart pounding in her ears and wondered frantically if he could hear it. She watched the slow slide of his features as his face shifted from concerned to self-conscious to slightly amused. She watched the little dimple in his chin deepen as he smiled and returned her gaze with those deep, piercing eyes and felt a tremor of excitement ripple through her body. Lois mentally slapped herself. No. There would be no rippling... she looked at the wide expanse of his chest under the white shirt...of any kind. At least not any time soon. He was married, she told herself. Granted, he was married to _her_, but the point was...as his mouth flicked into a crooked smile, Lois wondered what the point was.

He watched her perfectly shaped lips purse and stretch as she formed a sentence. He wondered suddenly if having feelings towards this young version of his wife was unethical. He supposed no-one had really written a rulebook on this kind of thing and Lois, his Lois would no doubt tease him for having moral concerns about flirting with her past self, yet as he was struck by a strange and not entirely unwelcome wave of desire, he couldn't help feeling marginally guilty. He suddenly realised that her sentence was directed at him.

"What? Huh?"

She shot him a puzzled glance and repeated her sentence. "So does it ever become too much?"

He frowned, not understanding. "Does what ever become too much?"

"This," she raised her finger up his body and flicked at his glasses. "This life we lead. The dual identity thing...I guess I just never thought..." She sighed suddenly, struggling to articulate her thoughts. "I never thought I'd be good at loving someone who wore underpants over tights and saved lives for a living." She frowned up at him, "I never knew love could be this scary."

He swallowed and fixed his gaze on her. "The scariest thing in my life is the thought of living without you, without Cira. Love is a leap of faith, Lois. We don't love because we want to; we love because we need to."

She blinked her eyes to hide the tears threatening to spill from them. This whole repressed trauma thing was really getting old, Lois thought, feeling weepy and fragile. "That sounds like something off the back cover of a cheesy romance novel." She said, trying to regain a little bit of Lane dignity.

He cracked a smile. "I don't know, I thought it sounded pretty nice when you said it to me at our wedding."

Lois glared at him sceptically. "I did not."

He shot her a look which seemed to say, "Did too!"

They stared at each other with playful, challenging expressions until Lois finally made a face at him and sighed heavily, "Alright, maybe I did say that...but I was definitely on something."

"I believe the term is 'high on love'?" He shook his head with a grin. "Don't worry, Lois, you get beyond the stage where you want to bury your head in the toilet after every public speech. Although the one you gave at Jimmy's Pulitzer party was-" he stooped abruptly and bit the inside of his cheek, cursing himself for going too far.

But Lois' sharp reporter's ear immediately caught his hesitation and pushed further. "Jimmy wins a Pulitzer?" she looked impressed, "Go Olsen. What was it for?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh, just a picture of the aftermath of one of Superman's battles. Nothing special."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're right; your lying really hasn't improved. What aren't you telling me?"

He wanted to save her the hurt of knowing, he wanted to save her the burden of waiting, but he knew Lois well enough to recognise her 'pit-bull on a pant leg' expression. So he sighed and began, "I was in a battle, a few years ago, just after we got married. It was..." Brutal, devastating, the most painful physical experience of my life. He closed his eyes as images flashed through his memory. He could recall the tearing of his flesh as the awakened Doomsday beat him into a bloody pulp through Metropolis' busy streets. He recalled the feeling of being in Lois' arms for the last time as she held on to him under his tattered costume, and choked out, "Clark...I..." he had kissed her softly, and whispered, "Just remember that whatever happens, I'll always love you...always." And then...on a sunny afternoon in front of a crowd of people, he died.

He looked down into Lois' inquiring eyes and decided to tell her, maybe spare her some of the pain of what was to come. "It was the most brutal fight I'd ever been in," he continued. "I was completely annihilated. As far as anyone knew, I was dead." He paused as her eyes widened. "Of course I wasn't...not really. My body took eleven months to regain its former strength."

"So I played nurse and fed you chicken soup while every reporter on the planet wrote your obit?" Lois asked gently teasing. "Hell of a way to cash in your vacation time."

He looked down, unable to meet her gaze, the memory of it still painful, still raw. "Lois, I wasn't able to contact you or anyone...I barely even knew I was alive until a couple of months had passed." He sighed. "You thought I was dead."

Lois swallowed hard. The thought of loving him and losing him, the thought of waking up every morning thinking she would never see him, never touch him, never call him Smallville again...

"I'm sorry," he began, "I shouldn't have..."

"No," she held her hand up, "I asked for it, right? So is Clark...I mean...he's not gonna be out for eleven months is he?"

"No," he shook his head. "No, he didn't suffer nearly as much trauma as..." _he will_ "I did. He'll be awake within a couple of hours, a day at most. His body's already healing, putting itself back together."

She nodded, but still looked upset.

He frowned at her expression. "Lois, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you."

"No, no..it's just," she stared at him as she grappled to find the words, "You, Cira, all of this...it's like I'm skipping ahead to the end of the book and reading it backwards. Clark's gonna wake up and we're gonna go on with our lives, but everyday I'm gonna wonder if today's the day that he gets ripped into shreds by a giant monster and I'll know that he'll be okay, just like I'll know that we're gonna have the sweetest, cutest, smartest kid in the world and that we're gonna name her Cira, just I'll know just what she'll look like cause I would been missing her from the time you took her away, back the future." She looked up at him with conflicted eyes. "Clark, I don't want to know that we're going to live happily ever after. I want to find that out on my own. I want to meet Cira for the first time and experience all the fear and joy that comes from being a mom." She stopped at she thought about it, "I guess under the circumstances, it would be mostly fear, but even so... knowing it all takes the fun out of it. I know this sounds crazy, but..." she shrugged her shoulder, "I want to be surprised."

He listened to her attentively, understanding her desire for a future that was new and surprising and unpredictable. Understanding her need for the freedom of choice. And suddenly, he understood why he and Lois didn't remember Cira being sent back to them. Suddenly he understood how it all came together. If what he was about to suggest worked, then everything would work out just the way it was always meant to. "Lois," he said, taking a step towards her, "I think there's a way to give you a future as surprising and unpredictable as anyone else's, to allow you to experience everything as if it were the first time." He looked at her intently. "I think there's a way to get everything the way it should be."

She took a breath, "How?"

"By erasing the last 24-hours from your memory."

___________________________________________________________


	16. Going Back

Hi guys. So sorry for the very LONGwait for this update. Real life got in the way (darn this real life thing) . This chapter started out as much much longer and I eventually decided to split the two, but then this sort of took on a life of its own and became a full and hopefully exciting chapter. Thank you for all your wonderful, supportive, constructive comments! They really oil the writing process :)  
As always, thanks to Drvr8 for tweaking and challenging me to make this the best that I can.  
I don't want to make premature promises, but I am definitely going to try and finish the next chapter before Crossfire airs (my brain might not work for a couple of weeks after watching it )  
Also, I decided to revert Shelby's gender back to its natural state

So here we go...

**Chapter 16 – Going Back**

Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 19:00

Lois paced up and down the length of the Kent living room; her arms crossed over her chest, her head hung low in contemplation. She hated pacing, pacing meant waiting and Lois Lane did not wait for things to happen, she made things happen. She was considering going up to Clark's room to check on him when his older self blurred into the living room preceded by the tell-tale whoosh of air. Lois stopped abruptly, nearly pacing into him. Arms crossed, legs firmly placed on ground, he was staring down at her with a faintly amused expression.

"Lois?"

She met his gaze anxiously. "I thought you said you'd only be a second?"

He raised his eyebrow at her. "It's a figure of speech, Lois."

She looked at him huffily, "Well with all your blurring," she moved her hand in front of her face to illustrate, "I thought you'd just zap wherever you had to go and back. Where did you go anyway?"

His expression softened as he looked down at her. He recognised the look on her face. She had been worried about him. "I went to see a friend. To see if this thing we want to do, to see if it'll work."

Lois flopped down on the couch behind her and lifted her shoulders expectantly, "And?"

Clark nodded. "It'll work."

"So then," she looked slightly surprised, as if she half-expected him to tell her that a mind wipe was out of the realm of possibility. Then again, after the last few hours, nothing seemed out of the realm of possibility anymore. "It's on?"

"It's on."

Lois looked suddenly conflicted. "Cira, Clark's secret, everything that happened will be-"

"Gone," he finished for her.

Lois swallowed. "And Clark and me, we'll go back what we were...before? Before all this..." she asked quietly.

He nodded once.

Lois felt an unexpected rush of panic bubble up inside of her. This was what she wanted right? A second chance, a clean slate, a way to make it on their own, sans cheat sheet. Except now, the thought of going back to that life, a life of hesitation, missed opportunities and hidden truths seemed demoralizing.

What if, she thought wildly, what if something went wrong? What if Clark never shared his secret with her? What if...what if something changed and they never found their way to each other. And even if they did, she didn't know if she could deal with another week or month or year with Clark holding her at arm's length, never quite letting her in, protecting her by keeping her in the dark. She didn't know if she could deal with another 'forgotten' date or lame excuse. The prospect of looking at Clark and not seeing all of him, the hero and the farm-boy, the prospect of having his eyes on her and not feeling that intense heat, the prospect of knowing that his smile was just a smile and not a promise of things to come, the prospect of going back at all seemed devastating.

"You, Clark and Chloe, you'll all go on as if none of this happened. This day will only be remembered by those in the future."

"So I guess..." Lois bit her lip as she thought about it, "I guess its not so much forgetting as storing it away until later. Except when it happens again, I'll have no memory of it?" She sighed. "God, I hate time-travel."

They were silent for a while before Lois spoke up, her voice hesitant, "What about Clark?"

The older Clark inclined his head slightly as he anticipated her train of thought. "Lois, I wish I could wait with you until he wakes up, but that might be hours from now and I have to go back."

"But he deserves to have some say in this. He'll want to know."

"Would anything he says change your mind? Could he convince you to keep these memories?"

Lois' eyes flickered between the stairs going up to Clark's room and the face of his older self. She shook her head slowly. "This is the right decision. I-just...I feel it."

"Then Clark would understand," he said.

"What if," her voice grew small, "What if he doesn't?"

Clark saw in her eyes a look he barely recognised, a look she never directed towards him anymore, a look of doubt. It was look that made him feel wounded and guilty all at once. He remembered feeling as if a piece of himself crumbled every time he was forced to make an excuse, every time he was forced to stand her up, every time he let her down, every time he kept her away from who he was. Before she knew about his secret, what else could he do to protect her?

Yet every time she had looked at him, her eyes shrouded in doubt and hurt, his heart would break just a little bit. He would never forget her face the morning after he'd stood her up on their 'like-a-date'. She was willing to forgive him, sure, but it had taken him longer to forgive himself. He had questioned whether it was fair to give her hope, fair to make her want him, to want her back. But Clark had soon realised that being with Lois, wanting Lois, needing Lois was never a choice. Over the years, her doubt changed to trust then unwavering faith. Yet it was the faith that she instilled within him that allowed him to become the man he was. She was the one person who he turned to when he was lost and doubtful, she was the only person who could take his hand and lead him back into the light when it seemed that the world had become too dark.

And she was, even back then, the only person who allowed him to be Clark Kent, who allowed him to be human and vulnerable without expecting him to save the world. Yet it was before she saw him in red and blue, before she named him for the Nietzschian fantasy ideal 'all wrapped up in a red cape' that Lois saw his strength and his power. And even then, without realising it, Clark had loved her. So now, almost ten years later, he could turn to her and say with absolute certainty,

"He'll understand, Lois, because he trusts you." He came and crouched down in front of her and waited until her gaze met his. "Believe me, I would know."

Clark looked up at the young woman sitting on the couch, her legs curled up under her, her hands anxiously squirming in her lap and all he wanted to do was make it all better, tell her that it wouldn't be long, that they would find each other soon enough.

"Lois," he began softly, "I know it seems like this will all be lost, like you and me" he sighed, "you and Clark, like it was all for nothing, but," he reached out and took her hand in his, "I promise you everything will work out." His fingers laced with hers almost unconsciously. "Sooner than you think," he added cryptically.

Lois watched him with a raised brow as she considered his words. _Sooner than you think._ "Do you think," she bit her lip as she considered her words. "Could you tell me? How it happens? I mean, I'm not going to remember it anyway, right?" He looked doubtful.

"Oh, come on," Lois bounced up on the couch. "I need to know that I'm doing this for a reason. It feels right, but...I need to know why." She leaned forward and pulled him onto the couch next to her. He sighed when she looked at him with big, pleading eyes. He could never resist the eyes.

"It's late afternoon. We're in the bullpen," he began, "You're packing a couple of things at you desk. Tess is sending you on an assignment. You're supposed to interview Bruce Wayne."

Lois' eyebrow cocked up. "The hunky billionaire?"

Clark rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "Do want to hear the story or not?" he asked teasingly.

Lois bit back a small smile. "Sorry, please continue."

"So you're packing and you're angry with me because..." he grimaced slightly, "well because of a number of reasons actually. And all I want to do is make it better and suddenly, the thought of you leaving hurts me more than I ever imagined. And then it hits me like a fist full of kryptonite. And I realise more clearly than anything before, that it's you...that it some way, it's always been you."

Lois smiled almost shyly. "Bout time."

"And then..."

Lois sat forward, clearly riveted. "And then?!"

Clark smirked slightly and shrugged his shoulder. "Let's leave a little mystery."

"You're kidding? You can't stop there! That's like pausing the film just before the alien pops out that guys chest, or-or, just before Titanic hits the ice-berg!"

"Really, Lois? Those are the two films you chose to compare our relationship to?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

"You're killing me, Smallville."

"Well, He grinned at her in an all too familiar smug expression when he assumed he was right. "Things obviously worked themselves out didn't they?"

She scowled at him. "So when exactly does this happen, Casanova?"

He turned around to look at the calendar on the kitchen wall. "Sometime soon."

Lois narrowed her eyes, as if coming to some sort of conclusion. Then she nodded slightly and let out a long breathe. "Okay, I'm ready," she said, shutting her eyes and bracing herself. "Do it."

Lois waited in anticipation, clenching her fists, waiting to be struck by a bright light or something. When nothing happened, she opened one eye tentatively to see Clark staring at her with an amused expression.

"What are you doing?" he asked, slightly perplexed.

Lois frowned. "Well aren't you gonna wave your fingers at me or, I don't know, kiss me and make it all disappear?"

Clark laughed. "_A,_ you've clearly been watching too many bad movies, _B_, that would mean that I would have to kiss both Chloe and myself, which doesn't strike me as very appealing."

"So how does this work then? I click my heels and wish for it to be two days ago?"

"The friend I went to see, Martian Manhunter, he-"

Lois raised her hand, "Hold up. You're friends with some guy called Martian Manhunter? Tell me he's not the lead singer of some angry grunge band?"

"He's not," Clark almost smiled at the image. "He's name's J'onn J'onzz. He's a Martian, one of the best people I know. He's the one who-"

"He's from Mars?" Clark shot her an annoyed look as she interrupted again. "So he's like green and little with a really big head like those things out of the X-Files?"

He sighed. "Green yes, little no. Although his head is rather big. That's only when he's in his natural state though. Most of the time, he looks human. Like you and me."

"So let me get this straight." Lois shift closer to him. "Your Man-eating buddy's gonna take his big 'ole Martian duster and wipe away my memories like dusty chalk?"

Clark's lips twitched at Lois' unique summation of the situation. "Well not exactly." He pushed his black-framed spectacled further up his nose as he tried to explain what he and J'onn had decided on. Of course the Martian had been more than a little surprised when Clark had flown into his office and announced that he was from the future, but J'onn's knowledge of the temporal space meant that he accepted it all within the realm of logic.

It had taken longer to allow Clark to fly him up to the volatile Mars atmosphere. J'onn was not sure that time should be manipulated. However, when Clark explained that the Martian had his powers in the future, they both realised that Clark was meant to restore them to him. After which J'onn had agreed to manipulate Lois, Clark and Chloe's memories and allow them the ignorance they deserved.

"He won't be erasing your memories from a chalkboard so much as replacing them with new ones. All the memories you have of these past few hours, every experience will be replaced by mundane stuff like brushing your teeth, working on an article, watching four-hours of _Miami Vice_. That way, you won't have any blank spaces or amnesia-like symptoms, but you'll have no recollection of the events of the past two days."

"When?"

"You'll go to sleep," Clark said. "When you wake up it'll be-"

"Business as usual," she interjected.

"Yes." He watched her eyes flicker between uncertainty and resolution.

"Alright then. Although," Lois shot him a playful smirk, "I still think the mind-wipe inducing kiss would have been kind of awesome."

Clark grinned at her and was about to answer when-

"Daddy?"

They both turned to the passage way leading from the stairs to see a sleepy eyed, miserable looking five year old staring at them with a sulky mouth. "Daddy my throat's all scratchy and I'm thirsty."

Lois watched Clark's face as he struggled to keep composure. In a second he was in the hallway holding a glass of water, reaching out to his daughter, the daughter whom he had come so close to losing. Cira raised her little arms as he neared and he picked her up, gently, offering her the glass. He watched her intently as she drank and ran his thumb over her wet mouth, as she finished, wiping a drop off her chin. "How are you feeling?" he asked in a voice that spoke of relief.

"I'm okay, Daddy," Cira answered softly. Her little hand went to his cheek and she gazed into his eyes, identical irises meeting his. "The magician man, he hurted you. I sawed it and I was scared and Isaac, he was there too and Mommy was yelling I got all mad and then and then..." she frowned, "I can't remember and then."

Clark pressed his lips to her forehead, taking enormous comfort in the feeling of her body, safe and warm beneath his hands . "It's okay, it's all okay now. We're safe," he whispered against her hair, "My little super girl."

"Where's Isaac?" she asked, those big, innocent eyes searching her father's face. "Did he find his Grandma?"

Clark glanced at Lois and sighed. "Isaac, he was hurt. But he's in the in hospital now with his Grandma."

"Is he gonna be okay, Daddy?"

Clark unconsciously held her tighter. "I hope so."

"Mommy was scared," Cira said softly, as if confessing an atrocity. "She yelled your name real loud."

"Mommy was worried that's all," Clark adjusted Cira on his hip and turned to Lois, who was staring at them with a gentle expression. "Isn't that right _Mommy_?"

Lois walked towards them. "That's right. But everything's better now." She stared into the eyes of the daughter she would one day have and felt a surge of hope. "Everything's just how it's supposed to be."

Cira smiled widely. "Bernie tolded me that it was gonna be okay," she said in a whisper. "He tolded me, he said, 'Cira Lane-Kent, you gotta turn that frown upside-down!'"

Lois bit down on her lip, suppressing a grin as Clark regarded Cira with an amused expression. "He did huh?"

"Uh-huh, then he said that Mommy's gonna give me chocolate milk. Cause you promised, Mommy. You said after the party I could have some and it's after the party and you promised."

"You know what? I can think of something better than chocolate milk," Lois said as she ran her hand across Cira's forehead, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I happen to know for a fact that Cla-uh, Daddy has a secret stash of Ben and Jerry's hidden in the bottom drawer of the freezer."

"Rocky-Road?!" Cira's eyes went wide.

"If we're lucky," Lois responded.

'Dibs on the bowl," Cira said quickly.

In a second, Cira had managed to manoeuvre from Clark's arms and into Lois'. Clark shook his head, clearly amused by their little exchange that for some reason, made him feel homesick. "Hey, what about me?"

"Sorry, Daddy," Cira said, her face mildly apologetic, "Girls don't share ice-cream."

Lois chuckled, constantly surprised at how much Cira reminded her of herself as a child. Except, instead of the armour she had had to learn to put on, Cira was blissfully, unaffected, aware only of her parents' love for her. She felt a rush of pride at the fact that she had some role to play in the development of the perfect, bright little girl. "I have taught you well, my little grasshopper."

Cira broke into a grin and spontaneously threw her arms around Lois' neck. "I love you, Mommy."

Suddenly overcome, Lois clutched back tightly, breathing in the clean, sweet scent of her little girl. "I love you too, baby," she said, meeting Clark's eyes.

"Since I'm not invited to the ice-cream party, I think I'll go check in on...the patient," he said, his gaze firmly on Lois. A small, poignant smile touched her lips and she nodded slightly at him, letting him know that she was alright. That it was alright.

"Go," she said softly. "We'll be here."

Upstairs, the light was beginning to change from bright yellow to orange as the sky went from blue to pink. The young Clark lay on his back, his eyes still shut, but his breathing steady. The wound at his side was completely healed and the only evidence of its existence was the blood that still stained his torso. Clark looked down at the healing body of his younger self and felt a surge of protectiveness towards this young man, just starting out on his journey. Behind him, the door creaked and Shelby came wagging in, his eyes inquisitive.

Clark bent down and took the body of his younger self in his arms. Younger Clark's head rested against his older self's forearm. Clark turned to Shelby. "Look after them, okay boy? I'll just be a minute."

And then he was soaring out of the window, holding his young, vulnerable self tightly, racing up to capture the last rays of hot, healing sunlight. As he shot through the clouds, he lifted Clark up, holding him to the sun, feeling his body absorb and repair. It was, by far, the most surreal moment of his life. He could hear the younger man's heartbeat strengthen, his blood pump faster, his muscles toughen. And then, just as quickly, he was flying down, away from the heavens, back to earth, back home. When he came through the window, Shelby was in exactly the same spot, and whined curiously as they entered. Clark smiled at him.

"Good boy."

He laid his younger self down, and watched him fight off the last of the kryptonite. Clark sat down at the edge of the bed and placed his hand on the young Clark's brow. He was perspiring heavily now as the kryptonite worked its way out of his system. "You're doing well," he said, leaning in slightly, "You'll be fine."

Part of him wished that the younger Clark was awake so that they could meet, so that he could show him all that he would be, but Lois was right when she said that the future was something that needed to be discovered not revealed.

"Be brave," he continued, "Be strong and allow yourself to be loved. Don't be scared to need her. She'll remind you of why you're here, what you're fighting for. She'll remind you to be human." He smiled slightly as Clark gave out a little whimper. "Dad would have been proud," he said softly. A high pitched giggle caught his ear and he focused his hearing, catching the tail-end of whatever Lois was saying to Cira in the kitchen.

_So then…_Lois' voice was clearly on the edge of laughter…_ he reaches out to touch the statue and the blanket falls off._

Cira's gasp was audible. _And he had no clothes on?!_

Clark frowned at Cira's excited question...What on earth was Lois telling their five-year old daughter?

He zoomed down the stairs to see Cira propped up on the counter facing Lois on the kitchen stool. The little girl looked riveted as she puckered her little chocolate stained lips, listening to her mother's sordid sounding tale.

"Not a stitch," Lois said, licking ice-cream off her spoon. "Luckily I was there to stop him from giving the entire hospital staff a free show."

Cira's eyes widened. "What kinda show?"

"A puppet show," Clark interjected hastily, shooting Lois and incredulous look. "What, uh, what are you telling Cira, Lois?" he asked through a plastered smile.

"Mommy tolded me how you first met." Cira supplied. "She said you fell from the sky." Clark smiled wider. "And you didn't even know your name, Daddy. And Mommy said you were 'butt-naked'."His smile faltered.

Lois snorted then quickly coughed to cover it up. "Ookay, story hour's come to a close," she said, grinning up at Clark's glaring face.

"But-but Mommy didn't get to tell me how it ends," Cira said with a pouty jut of her lip.

"But you already know how it ends, princess," Clark said, playfully tapping Cira's nose. "Lois and Clark go on to-"

"Have many more adventures," Cira said with him, "One of them named Cira."

"You've got it."

Lois looked from Cira to Clark and with a lowered voice asked, "How is he?"

"Healing fast," Clark said. "Don't be alarmed if it looks like he's got a fever, he's sweating the kryptonite out of his system."  
"What can I do?"

"Just be here when he wakes up," he replied. "Which should be in the next couple of hours. But there's nothing more you or anyone can do at this point."

Lois nodded slowly. "So I guess this means you're leaving."

Cira frowned at her parents. "Where are we going, Daddy?"

Clark scooped his daughter off the kitchen table and hugged her to him. "We're going home, Cira."

She turned to Lois. "You coming too Mommy?"

Lois attempted a smile, even though it felt suddenly as if her heart had grown three times its size and was currently swelling up in her throat. "I'll be there when you get home." She looked at Clark, "I'll be waiting."

In a moment of simple, childish intuition, Cira reached out and put her palms on Lois' cheeks. "I'll miss you till I see you, Mommy, okay?"

Lois leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on Cira's forehead. "I'll miss you too, Munchkin."

Clark adjusted Cira on his hip and took a step closer to Lois. "See you on the other side," he said softly.

Her mouth tugged into a smile and she reached out and pushed his glasses up his nose before patting his cheek affectionately. "Safe trip, Superman."

He nodded at her once then dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "Hold on tight," he said to Cira as he slipped it onto his finger and disappeared in a flash of bright violet light.

And then they were gone.

Lois stared at the spot from which they had disappeared for the longest time, until she began to wonder if they were ever there at all. Around her, the farmhouse creaked and moaned in the early evening air and she felt suddenly and completely alone.

Any other day, at any other time, Lois would have curled up in a ball and licked her wounds until she felt ready to take on the world once again. She would have comforted herself on her own, because she'd learnt long ago that the only person she could count on was herself. But now as she pulled her gaze away from the empty living room she realised that it wasn't Lois Lane against the world any longer, she didn't have to carry that load on her own, that perhaps, she needed Clark Kent every bit as much as he needed her.

Lois walked up the stairs, each step taking her closer to Clark, closer to the one person in her life whom she was prepared to give everything up for, in the hope, in the belief that they would get all back again. She gently pushed open the door. The room was now in bathed pale light as the sun finally slipped behind the horizon, painting the sky a vivid shade of purple and pink. Lois leaned back against the door and looked around the room that she had spent so many nights in, forcing its original occupant to sleep on the couch. She almost smiled at the memory of Clark grumbling at all the times Lois threatened to displace him. Yet every time she showed up, suitcase in hand, he would move to make a place for her in his home. Now she watched him sleep, somewhere between that boy she remembered and the man she would, by morning, forget.

He lay flat on his back in just jeans. The blood on his torso was the only evidence of the nearly fatal wound. Shelby lay at the foot of the bed, protecting his master diligently.

Without preamble, Lois climbed in next to him, rearranging the familiar red blanket so that it covered them both. She moulded her body against his, taking comfort in the warm feel of his skin. As she laid her head on his chest and felt the reassuring and steady beat of his heart, Lois thought he smelt like sunlight. He muttered something completely incoherent as she splayed her arm over his chest and made careless patterns on his skin. She wondered idly if he was ticklish. And then, as the methodical beat under her ear lulled her to sleep, Lois dreamt of capes and curls and Clark Kent.

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 19:30**

In a flash it was all gone.

Lois, the farmhouse, the sights and sounds of 2009. All of it disappeared.

In a flash they were back.

Back, to the one place he had programmed the ring to take them, the one place were he was completely safe.

The comforting, familiar sight of his living room greeted Clark as he recovered from the millisecond it took him to gain his bearings. It took him as long to realise that he was floating about two feet off the ground with a bewildered Cira in his arms. Immediately, he lowered himself and pulled back to study his daughter who looked marginally pale.

"You alright, sweetheart?"

Cira frowned but nodded. Yeah, I'm okay, Daddy." Gently, he lowered her onto the couch.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she replied, hopping off the couch and making her way to the kitchen. "I'm not gonna hurl, I'm okay."

Clark's mouth tugged into a smile. God, it felt good to hear her voice fill the apartment.

He had realised that the apartment was empty the minute they'd flashed into it. If Lois was at home, they would have known it. Nevertheless, he x-rayed the walls, looking for any signs of life.

"Krypto!!" Cira's voice reached him from the kitchen. The dog was licking her face as she laughed, as if making up for lost time, as if he had missed her just as much as the rest of them. "Silly doggie," she was saying as he nuzzled against her thigh. "Daddy, Mommy wroted a note," Cira said as Clark came into the kitchen.

She pointed to the little whiteboard on the fridge which he and Lois used as means of communication and served a useful purpose for when he was rushing around the world and needed to check in with her. He hated to admit how many "I miss you's" and "will be back soon's" that board had seen of late. Now it was filled with Lois' careless scrawl:

_C,  
If you get home before I do, get your primary colored butt to Met Gen ASAP. There's someone you have to meet.  
Love you,  
L.  
P.S, I swear, Smallville, you better get back before I do or you __will be spending the remainder of our marriage sleeping on the couch_

The last few lines went into the side of the board, making them nearly illegible, but Clark knew Lois well enough to know that it was most probably a threat of some kind. He frowned. Someone he had to meet? What could Lois mean by that and why would Clark be meeting them at the hospital? Surely she wasn't talking about a story.

Metropolis General. Lois would have left a more urgent message if it was critical, still, a trip to the hospital rarely meant good thing.  
He pulled his phone out but apparently time travel was not recommended for mobile phones. It was completely dead.

Cursing silently, Clark shoved it back into his pocket and reached out for Cira's hand. "Come on, honey, let's go."

Cira looked up from the floor where she was currently scratching a blissful-looking Krypto behind the ears. "Where we goin' Daddy?"

"We're going to the hospital." Clark replied, wondering whether Lois had taken the car or whether she was with the League.  
Cira's eyes went wide with excitement. "Did Aunt Chloe's baby come?"

Clark looked flummoxed. Of course. Why didn't he think of that? He smiled slightly. "I guess so." He bent down and buttoned up Cira's jacket which he absently recognised as his. Once Cira was all buttoned up and warm, he took her hand her little hand in his. "Let's go find your Mommy," he said as they walked out of the apartment.

Lois looked down at the tiny human being in her arms and found herself embarrassingly close to tears as a wave of maternal protectiveness and love flooded through her. "Hey there kiddo," she whispered to the infant who was blinking up at her with cloudy newborn eyes. "Aren't you just the most precious thing?" He gurgled and hiccupped before his little face transformed into an unhappy scowl and he began to make a mewing cry. "Uh-oh," Lois said softly rocking the whimpering baby, "Looks like someone's hungry again."

She turned and handed him into his mother's waiting arms. His whimpering stopped abruptly as his mother began to nurse him and his eyes closed as he suckled hungrily. Chloe looked up from Marlowe's tiny wrinkled face and shot Lois a weary but happy smile.

"He's beautiful, Chlo," Lois said honestly as she watched her godson gulp down milk.

"I know," Chloe answered. "He really is." She ran her fingers over his silky patch of orange hair. "He's got Jimmy's eyes," she said quietly. "I hoped he would have his eyes."

Lois squeezed her arm gently, "You did great today," she said. "Jimmy would have been so happy." She looked down at them and felt a sudden pang of longing.

"So no word yet?" Chloe asked, shooting her cousin a sympathetic glance.

"I'm that obvious huh?"

Chloe sighed and reached for her hand. "You'll all be back together soon."

"You know," Lois replied, with a small smile, "For the first time since all this happened, I'm starting to believe that."

Suddenly a huge bouquet of flowers appeared in the doorway, attached to which were three gigantic balloons exclaiming, _IT'S A BOY! _As if the entire Justice League hadn't already been informed of that fact. Bart was already talking about buying him the tiny pair of Nikes he had seen because he was convinced the baby would be a sprinter by the size of his feet, while Diana who had come and gone had assured Chloe that just because the child was born a boy did not mean that he could not accomplish great things, she had even promised to extend a blessing from the Great Gods Marlowe's name. Kara had fawned and cooed over him, and Zatanna had offered to do a spell that would alleviate colic. Even AC had dropped by to extend his congrats and drop off a little pair of orange and green swimming trunks that had made all the women 'aww' at the cuteness factor.

In fact, as Chloe thought about it, she realised that the only person she hadn't seen that day besides J'onn who was stuck up in the Watchtower, was Bruce. Chloe found herself missing his presence more than she wanted to admit.

Oliver's head popped around the flowers as he grinned at the two women. "Figured it was time we started celebrating this little guy's arrival."

"By buying out the entire gift store?" Chloe asked, amused as he attempted to set the vase down on the small bedside table.

Oliver shrugged. "I would have brought champagne, but Di said something about breast-feeding and alcohol, so...flowers."

"That didn't stop him from buying three bottles anyway," Dinah said, walking into the room. "I think you got a couple nurses drunk with all those speeches you made." She bent down to kiss Chloe's cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Chloe laughed. "I'm fine. Just like I was the last five times you guys asked. Seriously, I had a baby, I didn't undergo major surgery."

Oliver looked pale, "That's not what it looked like from where I was standing," he commented, referring to the moment during the delivery that he decided to come into the room to check on things for those pacing about in the delivery room. "What I saw was...it was..." he shuddered.

"The miracle of life," Dinah finished for him, offering him a glare.

Lois chuckled at Oliver's expression. "Oliver Queen shaking in his million dollar boots at the sight of a little blood? If you're this squeamish now what are you gonna be like when your own kid makes its appearance?"

"Hopefully that's not gonna be anytime soon," Oliver said with a careless wink.

"I don't know," Chloe said laughingly, "I think even Diana got a little broody after holding this little guy. There's just something about maternity wards. What do you think, Dinah?"

Dinah's gaze flittered between the baby Oliver and the baby. "I think," she began, softly, "That'd like to hold him if that's okay."

"Of course." Chloe gently lifted the now sleeping infant off her chest and handed him to Dinah.

"He's gorgeous," she whispered, breathing in the unique baby smell. As Oliver watched his wife hold the baby he felt the strangest feeling of regret and fear built up in the pit of his stomach. When Dinah's tear filled eyes met his, he felt suddenly overwhelmed.

"I'm gonna go get some air," he said abruptly. "I think I saw a vending machine somewhere that Bart hasn't emptied. You guys want anything?"

The women shook their heads and Oliver left the room, glad to be free of Marlowe's cuteness and Dinah's sad eyes.

"Ollie!"

He turned to see Lois coming towards him and sighed. "Not now, Lois. I just, I need a second."

"Why, so you can wallow in self-pity?" She shot him a look as if to say, 'well that ain't gonna happen'. "Talk to me, Ollie. What's going on between you and Di?"

Oliver sighed and leaned back against the cream and yellow hospital wall next to the window through which a dozen newborns were either sleeping or looking around curiously."She wants kids. A kid. With me."

Lois nodded slowly. "And you don't?"

Oliver let out a frustrated breath, "Come on, Lois. I can't be a father. I can't even look after those plants Dinah keeps bringing home to the apartment. I mean don't get me wrong, she'll be great mother. But me..." he looked broken. "I love her so much, Lois. I wish I could be what she wanted but...You know me. I would just mess it up, mess the kid up."

"You're right," Lois replied. "I do know you, Oliver. And I know that you're caring and generous and have one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen." He rolled his eyes at her comment and she gripped Oliver's chin and forced him to look at her. "Any kid would be lucky to have you as a dad. You and Dinah would be great parents."

"Not like you and Clark."

"Me and-" Lois looked at him like he was crazy. "Have you met me? Seriously. More often than not, I'm disorganised, tactless and being tied up by some or other weirdo. On face value I'm the last person who should have a kid. And I'll admit, I had no desire to play Mommy before it happened." She would never forget the first time she'd seen the swirling, barely visible bean-shaped image in the middle of the black screen. Clark had been grinning from ear to ear, asking the doctor all kinds of questions, from whether the baby was healthy, to whether it could hear them talking to it, all the while clutching onto Lois' hand, reminding her that he was there, that he'd always be there. But in that moment, all she could think about was that swirling, black and white bean, her baby. Because that was the moment that it became real, that she became more than just Mad-Dog Lane, intrepid reporter, or Mrs. Superman, it was the moment that Lois became a mother.

She smiled to herself. "But when it does, when you find yourself faced with this little person, looking up you with so much trust and love...there's no other choice but to be the best parent, the best person you can be. And you realise that you're not just doing it for you anymore, you're doing it for them, so that they'll be happy and feel loved and safe. And you would do anything, anything to keep them safe and happy. And suddenly the thought of not having them in your life, the thought of losing them for even just a minute becomes so unbearable that it feels like you can't breathe." She stopped suddenly and looked at Oliver as if she just remembered he was there. "Uh...I guess I was doing a little projecting there. Sorry."

Oliver reached out and gripped her shoulder comfortingly. "He'll be back soon. They both will. Just have-"

Lois raised her eyebrow, "I swear to God, Ollie, if you tell me to have a little faith, I _will _sock you."

He laughed. "I was going to say, have a drink with me. I still have half a champagne bottle that I stashed under the nurse's station."

Lois shook her head. "Some thing's don't change huh?"  
Oliver looked past Lois' shoulder into the corridor and grinned widely. "No they don't."

She turned her head to follow his gaze and felt as if her entire world was closing in on the two figures walking hand in hand down the corridor, coming towards her in the distance.

"Clark?!" the word had barely left her lips before she was running.

"Mommee!" Cira broke free of Clark's hand and took off towards her mother and a speed slightly faster than the average five-year old. As Cira reached her, Lois picked her up and wrapped her arms around her daughter, breathing in her smell, feeling her warm alive body beneath her hands. Never in her entire life had Lois Lane felt relief like she did in that moment.

"Oh, my baby," Lois tangled her fingers in Cira's hair and swayed as she held her. "Oh honey, you're here. You're safe." She pulled back and inspected her daughter. Save for the tiny scrape on her chin she looked fine. Lois brushed Cira's too-long bangs off her forehead and just stared at her, allowing herself to breathe, truly breathe for the first time since the moment she watched her daughter disappear.

Cira looked at her mother with concern. "Why you crying, Mommy? What's wrong? Did we make you sad when we left?"

"No, it's, it's nothing," she said, blinking back tears as Clark  
approached. "Everything's perfect." She pulled the little girl into another hug and just held her for the longest time. Lois caught her husband's gaze over Cira's head. "Don't think you're off the hook, Mister. The vigilante act was not appreciated."

Clark stepped forward, sandwiching Cira between him and Lois. "I never meant to worry you," he said softly, reaching out to caress her face.

"Yeah well, ya did." She locked eyes with his intense gaze.

Cira looked from her father to her mother. "Was Daddy bad?" She asked softly. "Is he gonna get punished?"

A smile tugged at Lois' lips. "You know, I think he just might."

Clark leaned in, a breath away from her. "I'm looking forward to it."

Lois laughed against his lips as he captured her mouth in a kiss. His arms came around her, squishing Cira between them until the little girl pushed them apart with some effort and sighed. "Enough with the mushy stuffs you guys! I wanna see the baby!"

"Chloe," Clark said, suddenly remembering. "Is she-"

"She's fine," Lois answered. "So is Marlowe Sullivan-Olsen."

"Well if it isn't the littlest Lane! Welcome back beautiful!"

Cira's face lit up at the sound of Oliver's voice. She pushed off Lois and ran to him. "Uncle Ollie!"

Clark watched Oliver hoist his daughter onto his shoulders. "How was your trip huh? You have any fun?" Oliver asked while beaming at Cira.

With Cira, Oliver allowed himself to be completely unguarded. The playboy facade he presented to the world fell away and he was just Uncle Ollie, not Oliver Queen the billionaire or Green Arrow the hero. Clark knew that there were few people who Oliver allowed himself to be vulnerable around. He considered himself lucky to be counted among those few.

As he watched his daughter laugh with abandon, as Oliver tickled Cira's belly, he felt for the first time since laying eyes on his daughter in that funhouse, like he could breathe, truly breathe.

Cira ran her hands through Oliver's styled hair. "I went to the carnival with Mommy and Daddy and it was fun but then bad stuff happened and the magic man was there. But now its okay and Daddy said that I can get two stories tonight if I'm not too sleepy."

Oliver turned to Clark. "You okay, Clark?"

"Yeah, just...we need to talk."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah we do. Tall, dark and batty was mighty pissed at you for taking off like that. And he wasn't the only one."

Clark sighed. "I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I couldn't-"

"Yeah I get it," Oliver interrupted. "You do anything you have to in order to keep her safe. To keep them safe." He looked at Lois, "I think I get it."

Cira watched her mother smile softly at her Uncle Ollie and suddenly remembered something, "Mommy," she asked, holding on to Oliver's head, "Why did you kiss Uncle Ollie 'fore Daddy? I sawed lotsa pictures in your other house and one of you and Aunt Chloe with another lady and one with you and Daddy and you were wearing a pretty pink dress and one of you and Uncle Ollie and you were kissing and Uncle Ollie, you didn't have a beard and you were laughing, so how come?"

Clark looked between Lois and Oliver with a smirk. "Yeah, _Uncle Ollie_, how come?"

"Uh, well..." Oliver began.

"Uncle Ollie had a boo-boo and Mommy was kissing it better," Lois said quickly, shooting daggers at Clark, who seemed to find this all rather amusing. "You know like when you scrape you knee and Mommy or Daddy has to kiss it better?"

"Oh, a boo-boo on his lips." Cira nodded. "Okay."

"Okaaay", Oliver sang out, "Let's go see the newest addition huh?"

"Yeah!" Cira called, then frowned suddenly and bit her lip in a very Lois-like manner. "Uncle Ollie," she began as they began to walk away. "How did the baby get into Aunt Chloe's tummy? Where did he come from?" Oliver stopped abruptly and turned back to face Lois and Clark, who were staring at him with mutual expressions of shared horror. "I uh, uh...I think um..." then he looked at Clark and grinned wickedly, "I think your Daddy and Mommy would love to tell you that story before bed. Let's not spoil it okay?"

Cira nodded. "Okay."

Oliver chuckled and whistled down the corridor as he made his way towards the Chloe's room.

"So, I just thought up your punishment," Lois said quickly, turning to Clark.

His eyes went wide, "Nah-uh. No way Lane. If we have to tell her, we're going to do it together."

Lois gave him a pouty look. "But you're Superman, you can do anything." she said provocatively.

"There are some jobs even Superman can't handle alone. Besides, since conceiving her was a joint effort, I figure this should be too. And I'm not letting you seduce your way out of this one," he added when she took a step closer to him.

"You owe me," she whispered playfully, but his face turned serious and he looked down at her intently.

"I never wanted to leave you," he said, his voice suddenly emotional. "I had to go."

"I know," she laid her hand on his chest. "Not gonna say that the waiting didn't suck, but you did it. You brought her back Clark. Just like I knew you would. And after you and the super crew do the pow-wow at the Watchtower, I expect a full report."

Clark closed his eyes for a second as the report of a jewellery heist on Main Street rang through his ears. Nothing urgent, but still something that called for Superman's intervention. Lois sighed, recognising the look on his face instantaneously.  
"Seriously?! Right now?"

He shrugged regretfully. "Duty calls." He dropped a quick kiss on her nose and motioned to leave, but Lois caught his hand and pulled him back.

"You call that a kiss?"

He grinned and stepped against her, inadvertently pushing her up against the hospital wall. "Let me try that again." Clark brushed his lips over hers softly before gently parting them. As his tongue slipped inside and slid against her own, Lois moaned, her hands moving up his chest and around his neck. As he deepened the kiss, he moved impossibly closer, practically moulding his body against hers. Lois tugged on his bottom lip and regretfully pushed him back. "Smallville," she murmured on a breath.

"Yes Lois?" Clark's eyes were focused on her full, freshly kissed lips.

"You have to go," she said softly. "And we are in the maternity ward. There are babies here. I can't make-out with you in front of the babies."

Clark took Lois' face in his hands and stared at her intently, "I love you, Lois."

She walked her fingers up his chest and winked at him, "You'd better." Leaning in, he kissed her hard and fleetingly before walking away to find the nearest storage room in which to change.

_____________________________________


	17. Kaleidoscope

**A/N:** I don't know where to begin! So I'll start with an apology/confession: Yes, it had been little over a month since the last update (starting to regret putting that dowe for those of you who haven't noticed :P) Though if it helps to know, I'm always working on it, even through exams and pre-graduation chaos, I'm thinking about Cira and time-travel and Clark's naked chest.

Now, this latest chapter is possibly the longest thing I've ever written – just over 12000 words, which is really like three chapters crammed into one. The reason? I couldn't break it up – it would have taken away from the effect I think. So, hopefully, the quantity (and quality) makes up for the looong wait.

Next: please note that the rating for this chapter has shot up from PG13 to NC17. Yes folks, it's gonna get a little hot in here. If you can't handle the heat…well put on a swimsuit or something, because I think it'll be worth your while to stay in the kitchen. Seriously, I don't write smut for the sake of smut, everything is for the benefit of honest representation.

Next next: you guys are 100% amazing. Please, believe me when I tell you that every single comment is loved and cherished and fed cookies.

Almost lastly: I cannot stress enough how grateful I am to drvr8 for all the blood, sweat and tears he's put into this chapter (and this fic as a whole). Seriously, he's taught me the importance of having a beta to review, revise and rejuvenate the whole writing process.

Lastly: after all that you'd think this was the last chapter right? Well, it's not, one and a half to go. I plan on writing a short, companion piece to this chapter, since there were one or two loose ends that I just couldn't fit in, so if you see a shorter update sometime soonish (see, no commitments), don't worry, it's not the last one.

'Kay, enough from me…

**Past Imperfect**

**Chapter 17 - Kaleidoscope**

_She stares out at the horizon. A vista painted with pink hues and vivid purples, acts as a canvas behind the city's harsh lines and tall buildings. For that moment, that brief moment before the sun dips its luminescent head behind the skyline, she remembers why she loves this city, why it is the one place in all the world that she calls home. She takes a step away from the bright twirling globe, towards the edge of the building and looks down. Below, she sees nothing but corn. Fields and fields of ripe, golden corn. Stalks swishing this way and that, waving their leaves as if calling her down. She steps onto the ledge, peering at the ground, searching for a soft spot to fall. Perhaps the barn. The bright red barn hidden somewhere in the cornfield. If she squints hard enough, she might see it. She's looking so hard that she doesn't even realize she's falling until he catches her._

_Always the same. A soft whoosh of air and then an unexpected feeling of warmth, as if he carried the sun in his pocket. _

"_Lois."_

_He says her name as if it were a fragile thing. Two syllables that could be picked up by the wind and carried away to some far off land. _

_She doesn't open her eyes. It's always the same. She hears his voice, so familiar, so comforting. She feels his hands around her waist and then they're flying. Beyond cornfield and skyscrapers, beyond the moon and the stars. She doesn't open her eyes because it's always the same._

_When she opens her eyes, it all goes away._

_But this time is different. This time she feels the moon on her face, his breath in her ear._

"_Look up," he says. And she does. And she knows it's him before she sees his face._

_Only one person could ever show her the stars the way he could._

"_Clark." Just one syllable, warm on her lips. _

_She smiles up at him, "You caught me."_

_He tightens his grip on her waist and she wonders why his hands are cold. "I'll always catch you, Lois."_

"_I forgot how bright the sky is," she whispers as they fly over a playground where a little girl is learning to ride a bike. "Can we do this again tomorrow?" _

_He looks at her strangely and the moon sighs. "We can't do this tomorrow."_

"_What about the next day?"_

_The little girl has fallen off her bike and no-one is there to help her up. She wonders where the little girl's father is. Playing with his tin soldiers no doubt._

_He shakes his head. "Not the next day either."_

"_Then when?"_

_His hands are so cold she thinks as his grip on her loosens. _

"_When you let go."_

_She clings on to him tightly. "Let go? I can't let go, I'll fall."_

"_Sometimes, you have to fall." He shot her a wan smile. "How else could I catch you? It's the only way, Lois." His lips are cool against her brow. He smells like he's been in the cornfields. "Trust me," he whispers tenderly. "Let go."_

_And then she's falling._

_Further and further down, until the red of his cape is nothing more than a bloodstain on the darkened sky…_

…_and then the unexpected feeling of warmth…_

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 21:09**

Lois woke with a start. Around her, darkness. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the absence of light, trying to make out shapes and shadows. There was a second of blind panic as she stared up at the ceiling at those faded plastic stars, not knowing where she was, when she was, but the memories came flooding back in violent Technicolor. Feeling suddenly dizzy and overwhelmed, she reached next to her, searching for the human pillow she'd been drooling on for the better part of the last two hours. When her fingers groped at nothing but air and her arm fell down on the still-warm but empty mattress, Lois sat up and squinted against the darkness. "Clark?"

When she got no reply, she hopped off the bed and flipped on the light switch. "Smallville?" He was awake, which meant he was feeling better, which meant that the knot in her stomach should have untangled. But it didn't. She needed to see him, to touch him, to have him look at her with that coy smile that caused her heart to pirouette. A plaintive whine at her feet caused Lois to look down. Shelby stood, below her, wagging his tail furtively.

"Hey there Shelbs." She bent down to stroke his soft fur, "You can't sleep either huh?" In response, the dog whimpered and nudged against the backs of her knees. "What is it, boy? Did Clark forget to feed you? Is that it?" Shelby barked sharply, causing Lois to frown. "Shelby, where's Smallville? Can you find him?" Shelby barked in response then took off down the hallway, leaving Lois to chase after. As soon as he reached the bathroom, he turned around, as if to make sure that Lois was following, then barked once more and pawed insistently against the door.

Lois was overcome by the sudden feeling of apprehension. Hesitantly, she raised her hand and knocked – an action she rarely performed. The sound of her knuckles against the polished wood echoed through the narrow hallway.

"Clark?" Nothing.

Lois reached down and gently pushed Shelby aside. "Its okay, boy, I got this."

She waited a beat then tried the door. It was locked.

If he was in there, then he would have answered, even through the roar of running water, his super-hearing would have picked up the sound of her voice. And Clark, being Clark would have answered, whether he was butt-naked or wearing a tutu, he would have answered her voice.

She knocked again, louder this time. "Smallville, you in there?" She swallowed, feeling her trepidation mount. "Come on, Clark, open up. Now's not the time to go all shy and dainty." She bent to peep through the keyhole. "Besides, it's not like I haven't seen the goods befo-" Lois stopped short when she saw an arm. Stretched out on the tiles, was an arm, a smooth, perfectly muscled arm attached to what Lois was fairly sure was Clark's unconscious body. Lois felt as she were about to be sick, as if everything they had gone through, every decision they had made was about to be rendered meaningless. She clenched her jaw and steeled herself. It would not end like this. She refused to let that happen.

As if on autopilot, she flung her weight against the door then stumbled forward when it budged considerably, realizing that it wasn't locked, only blocked by the heavy laundry hamper that had fallen in front of it. Through the crack, she could clearly see him, sprawled out, flat on his back. It looked as if he had staggered into the bathroom and knocked over the hamper when he fell.

"Clark!" Panic trickled into her voice. She pushed harder against the door until the gap was large enough for her to squeeze through. As soon as she was inside, Lois fell to her knees beside him, her eyes wildly assessing his barely conscious form. He was in his jeans, which was splattered with blood, the same blood that still clung to his abdomen and around the area where the wound had been. He was so pale, so…vulnerable. Lois' hands hovered over his body, as if not sure where or how to touch him. His chest rose and fell in heavy, labored breaths. At least he was breathing, she thought with relief.

"Clark, can you hear me?!" Lois pressed her palm to his forehead. The skin was sweat-drenched and burning hot.

His eyelids flickered at the sound of her voice and then shut again.

Lois knelt over him, defiantly swallowing down the fear that bubbled up in her throat. "You're burning up," she said, pushing damp hair off his forehead. When Future Clark had warned her about a fever, Lois had imagined little shivers, not the bubonic plague. She looked around the room desperately, searching for anything that could help. Her eyes fell on the medicine cabinet next to the shower. Surely there had to be something in there to cure aliens from meteor rock induced fevers. She looked down at Clark who was shuddering in her lap. She could feel his temperature through her clothing. He was burning up…which meant, Lois thought, looking over to the shower, that he needed to cool down.

She gently tapped his cheek, trying to get him lucid enough to understand her. "Clark, you have to listen to me. I need you to help me out here."

He shuddered and let out a little moaning noise as his eyes fluttered again. This time, he managed to keep them open.

Lois lifted his head off her lap and tried to pull him up by the shoulder. "Smallville, come on, we have to get you cooled off."

"Lois?" his voice was weak, hoarse. His hand came up and gripped her upper arm. He looked at her with hazy, disoriented eyes.

"I need you to stand up, okay?" she cupped his jaw and held his gaze. "Can you do that?"

He nodded once then, with her help, pushed himself up. Lois took his arm and draped it around her shoulders as they stumbled towards the shower. "Easy," she cautioned as he lifted his leg to get into the bath. With one hand around his waist, she reached back and turned on the shower.

"Sonofabitch that is cold!" Lois literally leapt in shock as the icy spray of water hit her at full blast, soaking them both in seconds. She shifted their positions so that Clark was slumped against the wall and she was in front of him, keeping him standing. Lois watched his face intently as the cool water washed over him.

"Come on, Smallville," she murmured softly, "You're stronger than this. I know you're tired, but I need you to fight just a little harder." She tentatively reached out and firmly gripped his hand with hers. "Please." After about a minute of her standing, watching, silently praying to whomever cared to listen, Lois watched as a thin trail of neon green liquid dripped from his nose and circled the drain, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

"Kryptonite," she murmured to herself, watching his body slowly rid itself of the poison. After another minute, his breathing became less erratic. When he exhaled a deep, cleansing breath, Lois stepped closer to him.

"Clark?" her voice was tentative, hopeful.

And then his fingers tightened around hers. Clark opened his eyes and stared down at her though wet lashes.

"Lois? What's happening to me?"

His voice was still shaky, but the glazed delirium had left his eyes. She almost let out a sob of relief. "Your body's fighting off the kryptonite," she said. "It's like…" she tried to remember what 'flash-forward Clark' had said, "It's like you're detoxing."

His brow furrowed, "Kryptonite? I-I don't underst-" Lois watched the slow shift of his features as the memories came rushing back. "The funhouse," he managed on a breath, "Vartel, he…he planned it." Clark tried to push himself off the wall, but Lois kept her hand firmly against his chest, keeping him still.

"Slow down, hero. Everything's alright now."

"Lois, what happened?" he asked as worry etched into his face which was still flushed with fever. "How did we? Where's Cira?!"

"Cira's fine," she wondered why it felt like a lie, "She's safe."

Clark tried to reconcile the images in his head and then within a second the look of worry was replaced by guilt. "I blacked out," he said as he remembered, searching her eyes for something indefinable. "I couldn't…" he swallowed as if the words were thick and glutinous, "I couldn't save you."

As she stared up into those conflicted liquid eyes, Lois found herself swallowing back tears. She wondered if they were even noticeable under the cascade of water. It was as if her emotions were teetering on the edge of a tumultuous cliff, constantly threatening to overwhelm her. It had been a long time since she'd felt so open, so raw. She felt fractured, as if she'd given pieces of herself away to Clark and Cira and the further they went from her, the more lost she felt. And now, as Clark stared down at her with questioning eyes, it was up to her to tell him that the daughter he had just learnt to love, the daughter he had almost died for had already been taken away. She was home, where she belonged - Clark would understand that, Lois reasoned, of course he would. But that didn't make her absence less acute, or the pain less real.

"But you did save us," she replied honestly. "You were," she sighed as the image of Superman played through her mind. "You were amazing."

"I don't understand," he replied as a chill passed through him. "How could I have?"

Lois opened her mouth to speak then shut it again, not sure where or how to begin. _Superman Saves! By Lois Lane. _Great byline if she had an article to go with it, but at that moment, the days events were still flitting around in her head like fireflies arounda flame.

"I promise I'll give you the entire scoop," she began, "butlet's first focus on getting you out of the woods, okay?"

He looked as if he were about to argue but then closed his eyes and as another chill passed through him.

Lois moved her hand to his brow and pressed her palm flat against his forehead.

"Oh, god, you're as hot as a furnace," she said, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she stared up at him with concern.

Clark opened his eyes slowly to see her regarding him with anxious hazel eyes. He couldn't remember much after the blast of kryptonite, but he did remember seeing that identical look on her face a second before darkness took hold. Except then there were tears…and he was pretty sure there was blood. He hated that now she was looking at him as if he was going to break, as if he was going to shatter into a million pieces and leave her cold and wet and alone.

"I'm fine, Lois."

"You're not," she argued, absently bushing her fingers through his hair, causing it to stand up at funny angles. "You've got a temperature as high as the Himalayas and you're all trembly and pale and I just wish…I wish I knew what to…chicken soup!" she yelled suddenly. She looked mildly hopeful as she considered it. "I could make chicken soup. I mean, that's supposed to help when you're sick right? And I'm sure your mom as a recipe lying around somewhere and really, how hard can it be to put a chicken in water?" but the more she thought about it, the more she frowned, "or maybe chicken soup's only for colds and flu. Maybe you need antibiotics or, or a vaccine or something." She deflated and muttered weakly, "He really didn't say how long this would last for."

Clark was about to enquire about the identity of this _he__,_ but then a wave of nausea-induced dizziness passed through him and he had to fight the urge to moan and whimper like a child.

He hated watching her feel so helpless. He would have given anything to chase those shadows out of her eyes, so he attempted the one thing he knew would succeed at – annoying her.

"You're offering to make me soup? And here I thought you were rooting for me to live."

Automatically, she scowled at him, giving Clark the reaction he had hoped for. "Did the kryptonite affect your sense of humor too, or was it always this bad?"

The roll of her eyes alone made up for his aching limbs and pounding head. He attempted to push himself off the wall and stand up straight, "I'm fine, see?"

But Lois deftly shoved him back. "You're not fine, you can't even stand up."

Clark sighed. "Well not if you keep shoving me against the wall."

"I'm shoving you against the wall because you'd fall if you stood up," she countered

Despite the pain and the nausea, Clark was tempted to laugh. "Well we won't know that for sure because you keep shoving me against the wall."

Lois stood her ground. "You'll fall."

Clark shot her a wan smile. "You'd catch me."

For a split second, the shower, the bathroom, all of it disappeared and she was falling through a starry sky. _Let go._

Lois shook the dizzying memory away and exhaled an exasperated breath and took a step closer to him, pinning him against the wall with her body. "Smallville, I found you out cold on the bathroom tiles, which, I happen to know from experience, generally means that either you've discovered that it is not in fact a good idea to mix vodka and whiskey and your little sister's chemistry set, or your temperature has risen to the point that your body can no longer take it and has gone into shock, and since I know you're not the experimenting type, I'm thinking it's the latter, which means that you are not fine." Lois glared at him resolutely then nodded once. "But you will be." Then softer, so soft that only super hearing could pick it up, "You have to be."

Clark's gaze softened as he reached out and tenderly tucked her wet hair behind her ear. "Lois."

Her name on his lips reminded her of starry skies and cornfields. Lois shivered, wondering for a second, if his fever was contagious, it seemed to be the safest explanation as to why, under an icy spray of water, she felt so hot. She swallowed thickly and looked down, averting her gaze from those green-blue orbs which threatened to engulf her.

Slowly, she ran her finger down his chest, trailing a droplet of water from his collarbone to the thin silver line under his ribs where the skin had fused back together. Lois smudged her thumb over the once-wounded area, smearing the last remnants of blood off his skin. She watched, seemingly mesmerized as the water cleansed his skin of the coppery residue, creating thin pink trails down his abdomen to the waterlogged waistband of his jeans.

Clark bit back a groan when her fingers skimmed over his stomach. The fever was subsiding, the dizziness almost gone, yet every time he caught her eye, he felt the world spin. He watched her touch him carefully and attentively, her eyes piercing his flesh, her feather light caresses warm against his skin. Yet she was as detached as if she were inspecting a coat she intended to buy. Despite the brisk air, the space between them crackled with unspoken words and heated touches. Something had changed. Between the sound of her name on his lips and the feel of her hands on his skin, something had changed.

She traced a circle around the closed wound. "Does it hurt?" Lois asked in a bare whisper.

Clark stared down at her as she gazed intently at his chest, as if looking up at him would somehow hurt her. "Not really," he said. "I didn't even know it was there until I saw the blood."

A beat.

He frowned. Her silence was choking.

"Was it--How bad was it?"

"Bad," she said on a breath. "Really bad." She inclined her head as if debating whether to go further. "I thought you were going to...um, that I would…" she sighed tremblingly, "that I would lose you."

When she placed her palm flat on his stomach and ran her hand up over his ribcage, towards his heart, he clenched his jaw and wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

"Lois," this time, when he breathed her name, tenderness was replaced by something else, something more desperate. Lois caught it too and stared up at him. Her eyes were big and wet and searching. Standing in front of him, with hair dripping down around her face, his flannel shirt clinging to her body, barefoot and drenched - Clark wondered if she had ever looked more beautiful, or more vulnerable. Vulnerability wasn't a quality generally associated with Lois Lane, nor one that she would advertise. Yet in that moment, he wished that he was stronger, that he could hold her up instead of it being the other way round. He wished that he could take away whatever memories she had of that day and scatter them to the wind. But he couldn't, so he took her hand and lifted it up to his forehead. "The fever's wearing off. Feel."

"Yeah." She attempted a smile, hoping it would deflect from the naked emotion in her eyes. "Looks like you're officially out of those woods."

Reaching up he took her hand off his forehead and, lacing his fingers through hers, brought their joint hands up to his heart. He held her hand there, allowing the strong, steady beat to reverberate through both of them. "I'm not going anywhere." He smiled at her, a genuine Clark Kent smile and Lois felt that knot in her stomach slowly untangle. "I guess you're stuck with me, Lane."

"I guess I am," she replied, feeling her mouth slowly curl into a smile.

For a second, they just stared at each other, eyes dancing, mouths grinning, as if keeping a secret from the rest of the world. Lois opened her mouth, about to say something when she sneezed, causing Clark to frown. He ran his hands up her side, as if just realizing that she was standing in the cold water that his body barely registered. "Lois, you're freezing," he exclaimed in a mildly accusatory tone.

"Not really." Lois shot him a smirk which was sabotaged by her chattering teeth. "Okay maybe a little." He reached out to turn the faucet off with a definitive squeak. Together, they stood in the now silent bathroom. "We should get out of these clothes," Lois began, then winced, "I mean," she looked at him sheepishly "…you know what I mean."

He smirked at her. "I know what you mean, Lois."

She backed out of the bath and held her hand out for him. "Come on, tough guy." He rolled his eyes at her, as she made grabby motions with her hands, as if he were a toddler learning to walk. Clark took a step out of the bath, then stumbled slightly once his feet hit the cold bathroom tiles. He reached out for her as support then steadied himself.

"You okay?" She asked, concern creeping back into her voice.

"Yeah, I'm..." he sighed, feeling like an idiot. So much for smooth, Clark. "Just a little dizzy."

Lois looked down then back up at him with a strange expression. "Wow, Smallville, thought it would have taken you longer."

He frowned, not understanding, "Taken me longer to what?"

Lois tucked her tongue in her cheek and motioned for him to look down. Clark then followed her gaze to where his hand was conveniently placed over her breast. He pulled back as if he'd been burnt.

"Sorry, I was...er, I was going to fall and…first thing I reached for –" He looked at her helplessly.

Lois stared at him, clearly amused, "Relax, Smallville, after almost dying, you're allowed to cop a feel now and then."

His eyes widened. "But I wasn't."

"Whatever you say," she smirked at him.

Clark narrowed his eyes for a second as if considering something, then took a step towards her, closing the gap between them. He held back a smile as Lois' heartbeat doubled in time. "Lois," he murmured, leaning down so that their noses were practically touching, his wet hair dripping onto her forehead, his breath hot against her cheek. "When I [i]_cop a feel[/i]_, you'll know."

He smiled in triumph when Lois swallowed her witty comeback and instead murmured an, "Uh huh."

She licked her lips as her eyes drifted from his bare feet to his dripping wet chest, to the few strands of hair that were beginning to curl on his forehead, reminding her of-

"Lois?"

She shook her head as she snapped out of her lust-induced reverie. "What? Smallville, what?"

Clark almost laughed at her disorientation. "I asked where you put Cira for the night?"

Lois blinked, that knot in her stomach tangling up all over again. "Cira?"

"Cira." Clark repeated, "You know, about this high," he lifted his hand to his knee, "pretty brown hair, my eyes, your nose, likes pink penguins and maple syrup? She's not that hard to forget, Lois," he said with a smile, mistaking her silence for incomprehension. "I thought," Clark's smile turned sheepish, "I thought since we may not have that much time with her we could, I don't know, read her a story."

Lois blinked and looked away. Clark frowned when he noticed the buildup of tears behind her eyes. "Lois? What's-" he sighed, not understanding. "We don't have to read to her. I mean, I get it. It's been a hard day. We could just hold her and-"

She held her hand up, silencing him. "Clark," she began, her voice on the edge of tears, "We can't read to her because she's not here."

Clark's frown deepened. "You said…Lois, you said she was safe, you said-"

"She is. She's safe," Lois cut in and wiped a fallen tear from her cheek. "Clark, she's home." She sighed and put her hand on his chest as if to soften the blow, "She went home."

His face scrunched up in confusion as if trying to figure out the meaning in her words. "I don't understand." He looked pained. "She was home," he eventually whispered.

Lois took a breath and stared straight into the stormy depths of his conflicted gaze. "I think it's time you got the full scoop."

**Sunday, November 13, 2018 – 21:09**

Clark pulled up into the nearly deserted hospital parking lot and checked his appearance in the rearview mirror. Staring back at him was a dark-haired, blue eyed, bespectacled face. He smiled at his reflection - Clark Kent was back home and, barring any natural disasters of terrorist attacks, that was exactly where he planned to stay for the rest of the evening.

The debriefing at the Watchtower was painful to say the least. Hearing about Lois encounter with Brainiac, about Vartel's suicide, recapping the events in the funhouse, all of it weighed heavily on his shoulders. He wondered if that was how Atlas felt, bearing the world. Yet stripping off the suit, slipping on his glasses and climbing into his father's restored pick-up truck grounded him, gave him a sense of rootedness, a sense of home.

He reached over to the back seat and extricated the large bunch of magnolias that he had managed to get, last minute from Dinah's flower shop in Star City. Last he checked, they were Chloe's favorites.

Clark found he was surprisingly lighthearted as he made his way to the hospital lobby. It most likely had something to do with the fact that in an hour or so, he would be leaving said hospital with his wife and daughter, both safe and sound. And, despite what he had heard back at Watchtower, despite what the day would bring, Clark could go home, read to his daughter, hold his wife, and for the first time in two days, he could sleep.

He was just about to walk out of the crisp November air and into the warm, sanitized hospital lobby when the black limo parked opposite the entrance caught his eye. Clark frowned at it. He was sure he'd seen it before. He tipped down his glasses to get a better look at the number plate.

_Wayne_.

"Behind you, Clark." Clark Kent, Man of Steel almost jumped out of his skin as a voice reached him from the darkness. He turned around to see Bruce Wayne, playboy prince leaning against the hospital wall, all but covered in shadow. Even without the cowl, he looked formidable.

"Bruce!" Clark pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Where have you been?"

"Around." In plain clothes, they were just two men standing outside a hospital. The casual observer would see nothing alike in the two men, one dressed in faded jeans and a nineteen-dollar shirt holding a bunch of flowers, the other clad in tailored Gucci, hiding in the shadows. Yet, behind the suit, behind the glasses, behind the mask of normalcy, were two men who knew each other's childhood dreams and secreted each other's deepest insecurities.

Clark frowned. He knew better than to probe when Bruce was belligerently taciturn. "We missed you at the debriefing. Tomorrow-"

"We deal with Brainiac, I know. Barbara downloaded the minutes of the meeting," he said by way of explanation.

"Oh," Clark took a breath and treaded carefully, "Have you come from seeing Chloe? Lois didn't say anything when I called, so-"

"I haven't seen anyone," Bruce took a step towards him, towards the light. He looked rough, Clark thought, as if he hadn't slept in days – even the waft of whatever designer cologne Bruce was wearing couldn't disguise the distinct smell of whiskey. Whiskey that Bruce usually drank only on the anniversary of his parents' death.

He looked at Clark with a firm glower, well aware of the other man's assessment of him. "I wanted to give you this."

Clark looked down at the folder in Bruce's hand. "What is it?"

"Isaac Vartel's death certificate among other things."

Clark looked at Bruce as if he had wounded him. "I don't want that."

Bruce sighed. "I think you might find it interesting." When Clark looked doubtful, Bruce shoved it at him. "Would you just take it?" He gingerly took the folder and Bruce dug his hands into his pockets, as if unsure what to do with them. Clark frowned, rarely had he seen Bruce Wayne this unfocused.

"Bruce, are you alright?"

Bruce looked down and sighed, before he met Clark's eyes with some irritation. "After you decided to make the mission a solo one, I went back, did some digging and found a number of inconsistencies in our prior research."

Clark looked at him expectantly. "Inconsistencies?"

"I found the boy's death certificate, but no documentation regarding funeral plans or the like. His medical records show that he was admitted on the 13th of November with a GSW to the chest, yet a number of his charts had been removed from the archives."

Clark's heart skipped a beat. "Bruce, what are you suggesting?"

Bruce shook his head, barely perceptibly. "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm presenting the facts and the facts say that after Isaac Vartel was supposedly declared dead, Mary-Anne Lewis, his maternal grandmother moved from Smallville to Kentucky State, where she supposedly fostered a young boy about the same age as her deceased grandson. His school records are all in there. It may be possible that Lewis was concerned about her grandson's safety and to ensure his anonymity-"

"Faked his death?" Clark looked at Bruce incredulously. "But the certificate, could someone fake that?"

For a moment, Bruce looked almost guilty, "People do impossible things to protect those they love. You of all people would know that."

Clark looked down at the file in his hands, remembering the pale, scared face of that little boy as they lowered him into the van, his big brown eyes flickering with pain, the cut over his brow, seeping blood. Clark shut his eyes, trying to shake off the memory. He shook his head finally. "As much as I want to believe it, J'onn confirmed my suspicions back at Watchtower. Whatever happened happened. Me going back, stopping Vartel, it was all predestined. It's just," he sighed, "It's impossible."

Bruce shrugged a shoulder, appearing unmoved. "You're the one always preaching about hope, Kent. I assumed you'd have more of it. Isn't that what that 'S' stands for?"

Clark nodded softly then smiled. "Hey, why don't we go up? I'm sure Chloe would love to see you, and I know that-"

"I'm not staying." Bruce's voice cold, even in the chilly night.

Clark watched as he dug into his pocket and pulled out something shiny and tinkly. He handed it to over. It was silver baby rattle, tied with a blue velvet ribbon. Clark guessed it must cost about as much as the new entertainment system Lois had coerced him into buying. Clark took the rattle and gave it a tentative shake.

"What's this?"

Bruce ran his hand over his face and sighed. "Give this to Chloe. Tell her...tell her whatever you want. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Bruce," Clark waited until the other man's slate grey eyes met his. "Why don't you tell her yourself? She'll want to see you."

Bruce made a show of looking at his watch. "I can't. I've got to be somewhere." As if on cue, the back window of the limo rolled down and a mass of dark, sleek hair was revealed, followed by the beautiful face of Selina Kyle. "Baby, you coming?"

Bruce looked from Clark to the car and back again. "Just give her the damn rattle, Clark." Clark watched, feeling helpless as Bruce turned away.

"Wait, Bruce," Clark took two steps towards him before Bruce turned around to face him. "Why are you doing this?"

Bruce looked up to the windows of the hospital and he shook his head, sadly. "That's somebody else's life, Clark. Not all of us are as lucky as you."

The slam of the limo door echoed loudly in the cool night air.

And then they were gone.

Clark sighed and pocketed the toy, hating that there were some things that were so completely out of his control. When it came to Bruce, there were some things that even Superman couldn't fix.

As he walked down the halls of the maternity ward, his ears picked up the distinct sound of Lois' laugh, followed by another female voice.

"Lois, he's practically jailbait." It was Chloe's voice.

Lois laughed again. "But he's so cute, Chlo. Come, on you don't see it?"

Clark cleared his throat loudly as he turned into, causing both women to regard him with guilty, 'hand-in-the-cookie jar' expressions. "Who exactly are we perving?"

Lois stared at her husband with amusement. "Firstly, Smallville, I cannot believe you just said 'perving'. Secondly, we're sizing up possible matches for Chloe."

"Or Lois is," Chloe clarified. "I'm just basking in the glow of my new son."

Clark walked up to her bed and kissed Chloe on the cheek. "He's beautiful, Chloe. Just like his mom." He produced the bouquet from behind his back.

"I know you've gotten a hundred or so flowers today," he began, "but these are-"

"My favorite!" Chloe exclaimed, moisture building up behind her eyes, "Clark, I can't believe you remembered."

He smiled at her softly. "I'm just glad that-"

"What about that one?" Lois asked, interrupting them with an excited tone.

Clark followed the direction of their gaze to the group of male interns hanging around a vending machine. He looked back at the women them incredulously. "Lois?! They look like they've just finished school."

She grinned at her husband's shocked expression. "Which means they're all fresh and eager to learn new things," she said, wiggling her brows at him. "Besides, Chlo, you're bound to be the hottest MILF they've ever laid their pretty baby blues on."

Chloe laughed, "Yeah, baby being the operative word. Besides, if I'm a MILF, Lois, then so are you."

Lois took a second to consider this then smiled wickedly, "Hmm, I guess I am." She bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at the group of interns in the manner of a jungle cat stalking its next meal. "Hello, Doctor!"

"LOIS!" Clark exclaimed, wondering, how, after all their years of marriage, Lois still managed to shock him on a daily basis.

Chloe giggled loudly as Clark stared at Lois as if she'd just robbed him on the last of his innocence.

"Relax, Smallville," Lois said, looping her arms around his neck. "You're the only boy in blue that I want."

"Although it looks like your daughter's inherited her mother's appreciation for a man in uniform," Chloe motioned to where Cira was sleeping on one of the chairs, a stethoscope hanging loosely from around her neck.

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, watching his daughter sleep, blissfully unaware of any of the events surrounding her.

"There were a couple of med-students here earlier, poking and prodding. One of them, uh, Ian," Lois snapped her fingers as she tried to recall his name, "or Ike or something showed her how to listen for a heartbeat." she smiled softly. "I think she liked him."

"Oh she definitely liked him," Chloe added. "It was so cute. She was all love struck and blushy, like she's known him for years. Her first crush," Chloe sniffed and cleared her throat quickly when her eyes began to fill up with tears. "Hormones," she explained to an alarmed Clark.

But Clark was more alarmed at the thought of his daughter blushing over a guy than anything else. "Lois, you let her talk to him?! Do you even know anything about him?"

Lois laughed, "I didn't ask for his driver's license if that's what you mean. But you can put the heat vision away – it was all very G-rated. He was sweet with her."

"And hot," Chloe cut in. "So hot in a tortured, James Dean, bad-boy, scar over his eyebrow kind of way... It's the hormones," she said when Lois turned to look at her with an amused expression.

"Honey, you do know that excuse is slowly reaching its expiry date, right?" she turned back to Clark who was staring at Cira as if her sleeping form held the meaning of life. "Smallville, you okay?"

But Clark wasn't okay, or perhaps he was more okay that he had been for a long time. Their words zapped around in his head like tiny firecrackers, setting off sparks. _Med-student; like she's known him for years; first crush; scar over his eyebrow._Bruce's earlier comment seemed to reach him from a great distance: _"You're the one preaching about hope, Kent. I thought you'd have more of it."_

"Smallville!" Clark blinked as the feel of Lois's hand on his cheek snapped him out of it. "Where were you just now?"

Clark sighed deeply and dragged his eyes from Cira to Lois. "I'm here," he took her hands in his and smiled widely. "With you."

Lois looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then decided to let whatever she was thinking go. "Good," she took a step forward. "I like you here with me." Clark met her honey gaze as felt a sudden jolt of desire. Every emotion, every sensation other that worry and fear had been placed on a backburner while Cira was gone. Now that she was back, now that things were as they were supposed to be, Clark realised just how much he wanted, how much he needed Lois. He needed her to hold him and comfort him. He needed her to wrap herself around him, and do that thing with her tongue that made him forget about anything else but the feeling of being inside of her.

He was about to lower his head when Chloe's voice broke through the haze of desire.

"Guys, as much as I appreciate all you've done for me, it's time you took off, I think the 'Clark and Lois Love Boat' is about to set sail and I should jump ship before I get sea-sick." Almost automatically, both Clark and Lois turned around to voice generic exclamations of objection, but Chloe stood firm. "Look, you two obviously need some TLC, and I'm pretty sure Cira would much rather be sleeping in her care-bear footie pj's in her own bed right now. Plus, I could use some shut-eye while Marlowe's out."

Lois kissed Chloe's forehead gratefully. "We'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Chloe smiled and yawned for effect. "Okay."

Clark bent down to lift Cira when he heard the rattle from his pocket. Lifting the little girl up, he handed her to Lois and kissed her cheek lightly. "You go ahead. I'll meet you in the lobby."

Lois patted his cheek, "Don't keep me waiting too long, Kent."

"I'll make it up to you at home," he called after her as she threw her jacket over Cira and walked out of the door. Once they were gone, Clark turned to his oldest and dearest friend and prepared to lie about why Bruce Wayne was not there to say goodnight to her.

**Sunday, November 13, 2009 – 22:01**

Clark stood at his window, looking out at the sleeping farm, feeling the light draft of cool night air play across his chest. Outside, a lone cow mooed while the others slumbered, crickets harmonised in their nocturnal symphony, cornstalks rustled as the breeze whispered through them, the low rumble of a car's engine drifted into earshot from the highway and for the first time in a long time, Clark wished for silence. A silent moment, free from chirping insects and lowing cattle, free from spluttering traffic and the loud, anxious sound of her beating heart.

She was sitting at the edge of his bed, watching him watch the world. In the silvery, moonlit room, all she could hear were her own thoughts. When it became too much, when the heavy silence became too loud, Lois spoke. "You know, standing there won't bring her back, and it sure as hell won't save that little boy." Lois braced herself for a sharp barb of anger, for a fiery retort, but it never came. Instead, he turned around and stared at her with such intense vulnerability, that Lois felt as though her heart would shatter.

His voice was barely a whisper. "Then what will?"

Lois swallowed. "Time, I guess."

His jaw clenched. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't look at her without feeling like he'd failed. Regret, anger, hurt. It swirled inside him, like burning liquid. "But we don't even have that, right?" He watched her flinch. God, this was hard. He didn't blame her. He wished he could, it might have made this whole thing a lot easier. But looking at her now, sitting on the edge of his bed, in his oversized shirt, her legs crossed under her, her eyes, wide and searching, as defenseless as he'd ever seen her, Clark knew that he'd never loved anyone the way he loved Lois in that moment. And that's what hurt.

"So how much time do we have?" Clark asked, his voice toneless.

"You mean before this carriage turns back into a pumpkin?"

"Before all of it," Clark sighed, "before we lose Cira completely, before you and I go back to whatever we were, before these past two days just...disappear. How long, Lois?"

She wanted him to scream, to yell, to show a little bit of emotion. The stoic act was killing her. Anger, she could deal with, anger she could face head on, but this apathy was just another wall and Lois couldn't face another wall, not when hers had all crumbled. "I don't know. Future you wasn't real specific with the details. He said that by morning, it'll all be gone."

Clark looked back to the window, to the outside. "Then I guess you should get back to your place. It would be too confusing if you were here tomorrow." He paused. "I'll drive you back."

"No."

Clark turned around. "No?" Lois was standing a foot away from him, her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing with determination. He'd seen that look before, and it usually came just before-

"You heard me perfectly well Mr. 'I can hear a dog barking from ten miles away'. I said NO. I am not leaving, in fact I am not moving from this spot-" Lois crossed her arms over her chest, "-until you talk to me. I've had enough of this 'push her away for her own protection' crap. That may have worked on your fragile ex-flame, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the dainty type." She took a step towards him. "I don't need to be protected and coddled. You wanna be angry that I let our daughter go back home without saying goodbye, fine. You wanna hate me because I made the call about the memory wipe without you, great, but you don't get to pull away and shut me out, not after you almost left me." She looked at him almost accusatorily. "You left me. And I had no other-"

In two steps, Clark had her in his arms. The rest of her rant was promptly muffled by his broad chest. Lois was tense for a second, as if deciding whether to push him away and continue yelling or whether to melt into his embrace. Ultimately, the latter seemed easier and Lois' arms came around him and encircled his back, her fingertips not-quite touching as she held on.

It was the first time they touched, really touched since he'd woken up. He couldn't imagine waking up and not being able to hold her like that, he couldn't imagine waking up and going back to whatever the hell they were before. He didn't think he would have been strong enough to make that decision, yet she had fought with it, struggled with it and understood that it was the only choice they really had.

She pulled back slightly to look up at him. "Clark, I had to make that decision," Lois said finally. "I just knew that-"

"I know." Clark cut in. "And I understand."

"I had to give us another-" she stopped as his words sank in. "Wait. What? You do?"

Clark nodded. "I do. I just, I hate that, " he frowned, trying to articulate the clash of emotions stirring inside him, "...that you had to make that decision without me. I hate that I wasn't there for you. I hate that I left you to fight all on your own. I hate..." he looked away, feeling the weight of what Lois would have lovingly called his 'hero complex' "I hate that I couldn't save you." He hated it more that he cared to admit. Despite his speed or strength or any of his other abilities, he hadn't been able to keep her safe, he hadn't been able to protect her when she needed him. He felt selfish, selfish because despite all of it, he couldn't let go of her if he tried. He couldn't push her away, not even for her own good. He felt selfish for needing her in a way he had never needed anyone before.

"But you did save me…sort of." She stared up at him, trying to convey the depth of her feelings. "Clark if you hadn't been there, either of you…I don't know what would have happened."

The look of awe in Lois' eyes, the conviction in her voice filled him with a sense of pride that Clark thought he'd never again feel after his father's death. But he shook his head, unable to reconcile this godlike figure Lois had painted with man he was right then. "I don't know that person," he said softly. "That wasn't me."

Lois thought back to the tall, attractive man in a slightly creased shirt and black-rimmed spectacles and smiled. "Trust me, Smallville, despite all the uh, bonus features, it was you."

Clark frowned, not sure how he felt about Lois' obvious attraction to this future version of himself. It was crazy and egotistical and completely irrational, but the fact that she was so enamoured by this, this...Superman, the fact that he had saved her, had held her hand through the worst of it bothered him more that he cared to admit.

As if reading his mind, Lois ran her palms up his chest and wound her arms around his neck. "Smallville, you are every bit as much of a hero as Superman, with or without the costume. Although," Without the advantage of four-inch heels, Lois leaned up on her toes, positioning her mouth next to his ear, "You might want to reconsider your take on tights," she pulled back to look at him and smiled seductively.

Clark's eyes went wide. He pulled back to look at her. She smirked back at him, her eyes dancing with laughter. He shook his head. No way. There was no way he would…would he?

"Tights?"

Lois arched her brow playfully. "Really tight tights. Very…" she brought her finger to her lips as if trying to conjure the word, "…flattering."

He was about to reply when he suddenly became very aware of their proximity. Wearing one outfit between them, Clark was in a pair of loose, grey track pants while Lois wore nothing but his shirt which ended mid thigh. She was pressed up against him, staring at him with an intensity that made Clark wonder if she was in fact the one with heat vision. He suddenly saw her in minute detail, fascinated by the tiniest facet. The length of her eyelashes, the golden flecks in her irises, the tiny mole just below her mouth…

As their gazes locked, Lois unconsciously darted her tongue out and wet her lips. And that was when he lost it.

His mouth descended upon hers with such force, such need, that she almost jerked back in surprise. But Lois had long become accustomed to Clark surprising her. Without missing a beat, she snaked her hand up his neck and curled her fingers into his still-damp hair. Clark's broad hand slid down to the small of her back and pulled her closer against him. Lois couldn't stop the moan from escaping her lips mouth when she felt his body's very obvious reaction to her through the thin cotton of his pants. As he slanted his mouth over hers and ran his tongue over her bottom lip, she arched upwards, creating a delicious friction against his chest. When Lois's hand found its way between their tightly fitted bodies and brushed very deliberately against his stomach, Clark wrenched himself away from her, then groaned as if parting wounded him. He stared into her confused, desire darkened green eyes tried to form any semblance of a coherent sentence.

"Lois, we should..." he took a small step away from her as if distance would allow more clarity. "We should think about this." Her silence encouraged him to say more, except he wasn't quite sure what more there was to say. "I mean, we've both through a lot, and we're missing Cira and tomorrow, tomorrow, none of this will mean anything. And if this happens," he looked at her resolutely, "when this happens, I want it to be perfect and right." But even as he said it, Clark wondered, how being with Lois could be anything but perfect and right.

She stared at him mutely. Then, to his surprise and ultimate disappointment, nodded. "You're right."

"I am?"

Lois absently ran her thumb over her freshly kissed lips as she contemplated his words. "Yeah," her voice had taken on a fake, cheery tone. "You're absolutely right. I mean, so what if these are our last few hours together before being thrust back into the murky waters of friendship? We should be mature about this."

Clark found himself once again closing that gap between them. "Mature," he murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Lois' eyes closed at his touch, but then she exhaled, as if to steady herself. "So I should probably-"

"-get going," he finished for her as he traced her jaw with his fingers.

Lois placed her hand flat against his breast-bone, feeling the erratic beating beneath. "Because we're being-"

"-mature," Clark breathed, lowering his head until his lips were a breath away from hers.

"So I guess this is goodbye." Lois murmured against his lips. She tilted her head up just a fraction a kissed him fleetingly on the mouth then pulled back and stared uncertainly into his darkening eyes.

"Goodbye Clark."

He mimicked her by placing a chaste kiss against the side of her mouth. "Goodbye, Lois," he echoed. Clark shivered as Lois' hand hesitantly and almost teasingly fell from his chest as she prepared to turn around.

Clark had learned long ago that the decisions made in the space of a heartbeat were usually those which carried the greatest consequences. The decision to save a car from flying off a bridge, the decision to save the person you thought you loved only to let another die, the decision to try and change what cannot be changed, and now...the decision to let her go. But as Lois' hand slid from his body, Clark knew that this decision had already been made. The second she had crashed into that cornfield, the second she had looked at him with wide eyes and a playful smirk, this was inevitable.

She let out a deep breath as she turned around. This was the right thing to do. Staying would only be…complicated.

Every fibre in her being ached for her to turn back, to see him, touch him just one more time.

One step away from him – they were being mature.

Two steps away from him – leaving was safer.

Three steps away from him – it wouldn't mean anything anyway

Four steps away from him – staying would be bad,

Five steps away from him – so bad

Lois stopped dead in her tracks when his fingers curled around her wrist. She shut her eyes, knowing that once she turned around, once to met his eyes, there would be no going back.

As his grip tightened, silently urging her towards him, she turned to look at him over her shoulder, eyes questioning, searching his for uncertainty, for fear, but in those clear blue eyes, Lois found only trust, sureness and such intense desire that her heart thudded against her chest like a bird beating against the iron bars of its cage.

Without words, she came to him and placed her palm against his cheek. Softly this time, Clark bent to kiss her. His mouth opened to take her bottom lip between his teeth. He suckled it gently, tasting the sweetness of her. Lois ran her tongue across his top lip, nudging his lips apart. When she finally gained entry and their tongues clashed, all softness was forgotten and desperate need prevailed. Every hurt, every wound every fear of the last few hours poured out of them as they clung to each other, hungrily touching, kissing, breathing each other in. As one scrambling, flaming entity, they walked backwards until the back of Lois' knees hit the bed, causing her to fall down with a bounce. Clark stepped between her legs and leaned down, bruising his lips against hers, pushing her flat onto her back. When his arms came down on either side of her, Lois scooted up. Not once breaking eye contact, Clark lowered himself onto the mattress and crawled towards her on his hands and knees until he was directly above her trembling body. She closed her eyes in anticipation as he slowly lowered his head to kiss her. When a second went by without any contact, Lois opened her eyes to see Clark staring down at her, his face marred with regret.

"Smallville?" she swallowed, terrified that he had changed his mind, that he was about to go all mature on her and insist that she go home. "What's wrong?"

He took a breath and exhaled through his teeth as though he were forcing the words out. "Lois, we can't do this now."

"Seriously Smallville? I mean _seriously_? I'm willing to get naked and sweaty under you and you're still having morals qualms?"

He gritted his teeth and made a little whimpering noise as if he were physically pained. "It's not that," he gestured towards the bed. "We actually we can't do _this_."

She looked puzzled, not quite catching his drift. "Last I checked, Smallville, and I did check," she began, "…you had all the right boy parts, and I since I have all the right girl parts…I'm pretty certain that we _can_ do this."

"No, I mean," Clark sighed in frustration and rolled next to her so that he was on his side, facing her. "I didn't plan this."

"Well I didn't pencil it in either, Clark, but I'm sure we can work it around our schedules."

If he hadn't been living one of the most frustratingly awkward moments of his life, Clark would have smiled. "This is worse than twenty questions. Look, I don't have anything…in terms of protection…and after Cira and everything, I mean, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that we could...you know, get well…pregnant and if you woke up tomorrow morning without any knowledge of this, that would just be-"

Lois smiled at him tenderly, "Smallville?"

"Lois?" He looked grateful that she'd interrupted him.

"Don't worry," she slowly trailed a finger along his perfectly sculpted chest, "It's taken care of."

Clark looked hopeful. "It is?"

Lois shuffled closer to him and nodded. "It is," she assured with the faintest of smiles.

For an infinite moment, they just stared, facing each other with ridiculously giddy grins on their faces. Then Lois smiled turned into a challenging smirk as brought her knee up just far enough to come into contact Clark's straining erection. He hissed through his teeth and when she increased the pressure.

"Lois," he breathed in what sounded like a warning.

"Clark," she echoed teasingly, pushing her knee up further, eliciting a growl from Clark, who surprised her by rolling over on top of her, pinning her against the mattress with his arms on either side. He lowered his head and captured her mouth in an open-mouthed, desperate kiss that left her gasping for air. His mouth moved up her jaw, to kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear.

Lois gave out a tiny mewl when he moved lower and gently nipped at the soft skin of her neck. Part of him was overcome by the simple male desire to mark every inch of her skin, to remind her of where he'd been, where his lips had touched, where his eyes had lingered. But he couldn't, not if by morning, is touch would be forgotten. So, he kissed a slow, wet trail down her jaw, down her throat, his tongue darting out every once in a while to lick and taste and suck. He made his way right down to the V of her shirt, trying his damnedest to keep control as Lois arched beneath him, brushing against him tortuously. Her hands were in his hair, urging him closer, lower. Clark found his journey hindered by the flannel lapels creating a suggestive arrow towards his goal. As his fingers found their way to the tiny buttons of the shirt Clark pulled back to watch her. She stared up at him through hooded eyes, her bottom lip between her teeth.

One button, two buttons...three buttons, four...

"Need a hand, Smallville?" Lois asked with a throaty laugh.

"Too many buttons," he mumbled, eventually pulling the material at either side, effectively tearing the shirt in two. Lois sucked in a breath as the cool air hit her body.

He watched her nipples harden, partly because of the chill, partly because of the way he was looking at her. As his heated gaze travelled from her face settling for a moment on her breasts, then down her stomach to the little bow on the waistband of her panties, Lois felt more exposed than she'd ever felt in her life, and nudity had little to do with it. Those butterflies in her stomach, the pounding of her pulse could only be attributed to one Clark Kent, who was currently staring at her with such awed reverie that she wondered if he realized that she was not in fact behind a pane of glass. Impatient, Lois arched up and hooked a hand behind his neck, bringing him down against her. Flesh against naked flesh. Clark groaned her name and mumbled something incoherent when Lois hooked one leg around him and bucked up against his throbbing erection. Smiling at the fact that she achieved the desired effect, Lois wrapped the other leg around him rolled them over until she was sitting astride him. Clark flinched ever so slightly when his body hit the mattress and his recovering muscled strained. Lois stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Are you-?"

But the rest of her words were lost when Clark leaned up on his elbows and kissed her hard. His lips moved down her neck, across her collar bone and then he ducked his head and took a nipple in his mouth and brought it lovingly to ripeness, grazing it with his teeth just enough to make her whimper before giving the other its due. A vision of Aphrodite, Lois threw her head back and rocked against him, overwhelmed by the sensation he was creating inside of her. Finally, she pushed him back down with a glint of mischief in her eyes. Starting at his throat, she kissed her way down his chest, moving lower and lower until her lips pressed against the area where his wound had been, gently soothing the skin with her tongue. Clark's reached down and tangled his fingers in her hair. Boldly, he urged her lower. With Lois, his inhibitions were shot. Clark had never felt more free, or more wonderfully reckless.

His eyes practically rolled all the way back in his head when Lois dipped her tongue his belly button and moved lower, pulling the elastic waistband down inch by inch as she licked her way south. When she finally reached her destination, Lois let out a little moan of approval. "I guess I should stop calling you _Small_ville."Clark couldn't fight the ghost of a smile that graced his lips. How was it that Lois could make him feel so incredibly powerful and so incredibly whipped at the same time? Just before her lips slid around him, her warm-honey gaze flicked upwards and caught his own, and there was such power arcing between the two of them that his body shuddered as though she had already taken him in her mouth. And then he really was in her mouth, warm and wet, slickly taken to the hilt while her tongue swept and swirled over his heated flesh.

He wanted to tell her what she was doing to him, he wanted to articulate just how right it all felt, but in moment, all Clark seemed to be able to muster was a hoarse, "Lois...oh god." White-knuckled, he gripped the sheets on either side of him. Feeling as if he'd been sucked into a vortex of sensation, a kaleidoscope of color where nothing existed except for her.

He grunted when she scraped her teeth against him, and, borrowing a leaf out of her book, he leaned up and impatiently took her by her upper arms before dragging her up along his body until they were nose to nose. Lois smiled triumphantly, as fire danced in his eyes. He narrowed his gaze at her, challengingly, perfectly aware of this spell she'd put him under. Lois wriggled her eyebrows at him playfully – there was something incredibly exhilarating about watching Clark Kent come undone, she thought suddenly, about watching someone with so much power, with so much control, just let go. Sitting up, she hooked her fingers into the side of the panties and slowly, ever so slowly, began to pull them down. Clark swallowed thickly and prayed that his heat vision didn't act up because nothing in heaven or earth could at that moment, compel him to look away. Balancing on one knee, Lois attempted to remove her underwear. Sensing the opportunity to turn the tables, Clark jerked up, causing her to topple over with a squeak.

He didn't even try to contain his laughter when she stared up at him with a disgruntled look of surprise. Lois raised her eyebrow, trying with all her might to keep from laughing. "Oh, Smallville, you are gonna pay."

Clark reached down between them and literally ripped the last of her underwear off before casually throwing it over his shoulder. "Looking forward to it," he replied, with a cocky grin and watched her eyes dilate then shut completely as he slipped one finger into her wet core. She moaned loudly as a shock of pleasure rippled through her and bucked up against his hand. Clark watched, spellbound as her mouth pursed into an 'o'. In that moment, Clark wished that his brain was less foggy so that he could describe her articulately, but all he could think of was _beautiful_. She was absolutely and overwhelmingly beautiful. So much so that loving her was like a physical ache. Under him, her body tensed before she cried his name so loudly that he was sure a couple of those sleeping cows had awoken. Panting, Lois opened her eyes slowly to see him watching her in loving fascination. She smiled up at him lazily and brushed her finger down his forehead to the tip of his nose. Clark flicked his head up kissed the soft pad of her finger.

Hovering above her, he had never felt more alive, every cell, every muscle and vein vibrated with need and desire. Every facet of his soul screamed to be inside of her. It was so much, so much that it scared him. Clark looked at her, suddenly conflicted and sighed shakily when Lois brushed her thumb over his lips.

"Clark," she began softly. "It's okay. I trust you."

He swallowed. "I don't want to hurt you."

Lois arched her hips up, taking him in ever so slightly. "You won't," she replied on a stilted breath. Together, they reached down. Lois tensed as she felt him enter her. "Just, uh, go slow," she breathed, offering him a rare, shy smile, "It's been a while."

Clark clenched his jaw and shut his eyes as the slow build-up of heat threatened to erupt. He forced himself to slow down, pretty sure that he'd never wanted anything as badly as he wanted to be inside of her. With one hand holding her hip and the other fisting the sheet beside her head, Clark sunk into her. When he had completely filled her, he opened his eyes to see her staring up at him with such unadulterated passion that he knew, for the hundredth time, he knew that it would only ever be Lois. Their gazes locked for an eternity. They said everything and nothing, the silence filled only with the sound of their breathing. And then he began to move. Slow strokes at first, then as she hooked her legs around him, with increasing speed. The sound of her voice filled the space between them, broken sentences and moans. Her hands moved up his arms, to his back, then settled on his broad shoulders.

When it became too much, when the feel of her fingers digging into his shoulders, the sound of his name tumbling from her lips, the sensation of her wrapped around him became too intense, he buried his face in her neck and allowed himself release. A second later, Lois came with spectacular force, vocalizing the extent of her pleasure much more articulately than he. His name, followed by a string of curses and half-formed declarations of love still rang in his ears when he rolled them over and closed his eyes, absolutely sated.

Minutes or perhaps hours later, Lois stirred above him. He opened his eyes to see her watching him with a smile that seemed to suggest that she was the cat and he the canary.

"You know what, Smallville?" she asked in a husky, post-sex voice.

Clark threw his arm over his head and regarded her with a sleepy gaze and a lazy grin. "What?"

She narrowed her eyes as if she were thinking about it, "I'm beginning to think that maturity is way overrated." Clark's laughter rumbled under her, causing Lois smile up at him widely.

"You know, I think you're right," he said finally. He watched her watch him and wondered how on earth it had taken them so long to get to this point and with growing sadness, wondered how long it would be until they would find their way back here. The thought of waking up the next morning and having no memory of her touch, her kiss, her smell seemed unthinkable. There was no way that what had happened between them could be lost in the mists of obfuscation. It was too real, too perfect, too _right_.

"What's with the broody face?" she asked quietly.

Clark stared at the ceiling for a second, seeing those stars in a whole new light. "I'm afraid to sleep," he admitted softly, embarrassed by his confession. "I'm afraid that if I close my eyes this will all disappear." He absently trailed his fingers down her back tracing the curve of her spine, "I can't imagine waking up tomorrow and not remembering this."

She crossed her arms over his chest and leaned her chin on her forearms. "It was pretty unforgettable." She aimed a tiny smile at him. "Think of tomorrow as the first step towards this, towards-" she sighed as she tried to find the right words, "-us, I suppose."

"How can you be so sure that you're right? That we'll find our way back to each other?"

Lois shot him a look that seemed to say 'duh!', "Hello? When have I, ever been wrong?"

Clark replied with a 'do you really want me to answer that?' expression that made her smile and press a finger to his lips before he could answer. "Smallville, I know because before Cira and Krypton and killer meteor rocks, before all of this…I guess," she paused and bit her lip, considering her words.

Clark looked at her expectantly. "You guess what, Lois?"

"I guess I loved you, okay?" she blurted out finally.

Clark looked taken aback, "But you never…I mean…what about the Blur?"

Lois stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Clark, you are the Blur."

"But," he stopped as if trying to formulate an argument, "But you didn't know that," he countered. "And you were all Blur this and Blur that, and after he called you'd get all swoony and-"

"Swoony?!" Lois sat up, on top of him, completely unselfconscious as she stared down at him with an arched brow. "I did not get 'swoony', and what is 'swoony'? That's not even a word. And even if I did 'swoon' you're the one who stood _me_ up and I had a right to be-" she stopped in mid sentence and broke into a grin, "Wait a minute. Were you…jealous?" When his eyes darted back to the ceiling, Lois' grin got wider, "You were," she said, spreading her hands over his chest and leaning down slightly. "You were totally jealous of…yourself. God, Smallville, talk about identity crisis."

Clark rolled his eyes. "I was not jealous of myself, I just…" he looked up into her smiling face, her eyes shining with mirth and sighed, "I guess I sometimes wished that your swooning had been directed at me, Clark Kent, not the Blur."

With an annoyed scowl, Lois reached out and smacked the side of his head. Clark flinched in surprise, then looked back at her accusatorily.

"What was that for?"

Lois let out an exasperated breath and shook her head. "Is it a Kryptonian thing, this slowness? I mean, do people on your planet generally take so long to get a clue?"

Clark looked confused.

"Clark, I have been sending you signals for months. What does a girl have to do to show you she's interested? How many times do I have to steal your coffee before you get it? I don't even like decaf, which all you seem to dr-why are you grinning like an idiot?"

"Because you love me," he replied, finding it nearly impossible to wipe that smile off his face. "You love me," he echoed again, as if the words sounded new and more wonderful each time he said them.

"Yeah, Smallville, I think I proved just how much a couple a minutes ago, you don't have to keep saying it." But she found his grin infectious. Clark reached up and tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her down against him. He kissed her with abandon until she pulled back to take a breath.

"Lois," he began as she rested her forehead against his. "I love you too."

Lois brought her lips to his ear and tugged on his earlobe before whispering, "You might have to prove it," she said, snaking her tongue down his jaw, "and prove it," nibbling at his bottom lip," and prove it," walking her fingers down his chest. Lois broke into giggles when he rolled them over and began placing wet, smacking kisses all over her face and neck.

Outside, under the light of the crescent moon, time crept slowly on, unaffected by the low hoot of an owl, unhindered by the bustling wind through the cornfields and uncaring of the soft moans and urgent whispers of lovers in their beds. By morning, only time would remain.

______

So? Worth the wait?


End file.
